one shots
by phsquared
Summary: just a series of one shots inspired by songs... i do not own anything... just saying.
1. Chapter 1

Austin

Blake Shelton

She left without leaving a number. Said she needed to clear her mind. He figured she had gone to D.C. With the new opportunity there, there was no way she would pass it up.

Beckett sat at her desk looking at her phone. It had been a year since she had left Castle and the boys back in New York. She needed to take the opportunity in D.C. and he had decided that he wasn't going with her. She finally gave in and called him after months of not seeing or hearing from him. Three rings and an answering machine is what she got.

"If you are calling 'bout my books, I am done writing. If it is Tuesday night, I am out with the boys. If you've got somethin' to sell, you are wastin' your time, I am not buyin'. If it is anybody else, wait for the tine, you know what to do. And P.S. if this is Kate, I still love you."

Her cell fell to the desk. She couldn't believe the words even though she heard them. What kind of man would hang on that long? What kind of love that must be. She waited three days, and then tried again. She didn't know what to say, but she heard three rings and then…

"If it is Friday night I'm at the ballgame. And first thing Saturday, if it don't rain, I'm headed out to the lake. And I'll be gone all weekend long, but I will call you back when I get home, on Sunday afternoon. And P.S. if this is Kate, I still love you."

This time she left her number, but not another word. Then she waited by her phone on Sunday evening.

When he dialed the number and let it ring, this is what he heard…

"If you are calling about my heart, it is still yours. I should have listened to it a little more. Then it wouldn't have taken me so long to know where I belong. And by the way, boy this is no machine you are talking to. Can't you tell, this is Kate, and I still love you."

He couldn't believe the words he heard. He was sitting in the middle of a coffee shop and didn't realize that what she said was true until she hung up.

"I still love you." She said as he stood up and turned around. The look on his face was pure shock.

"Kate?"

"Rick, I am so sorry. I should have never left. And if you will take me back, I want to come back."

"But what about D.C.?"

"I quit. And I called Gates. She said I could come back if I pass all the exams again."

The smile on his face told her all she needed to know. She closed the gap in between them and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. There were some flashes around them and he pulled away to ask, "Do you want me to get those pictures. They are gonna be sold to the press and printed on page 6."

"No, I don't care anymore. I love you and I want the world to know. I want the world to know that you are mine." She said as she smiled and kissed him again.


	2. Chapter 2

God Gave Me You

Blake Shelton

_In less than 36 hours, she is getting married to him. Richard Castle. They made it through the unthinkable. They have made it through everything they could possibly make it through. And she knows we have a lot more miles to go, but she is ready to join him on this journey._

She has been a walking heartache, she has made a mess of herself. And the person who she has been lately, isn't who she wants to be.

But he stayed there right beside her. Watched as the storm blows through. And she needs him.

"I need you." She tells him before they are to be separated until the wedding.

"I know."

"I love you so much Rick."

"But I love you so much more Kate."

"This is in fact a fairy tale, for these three days and I am glad I get to share it with you. I love you."

"I know."

There is more there then what everyone sees. A divine conspiracy, that her, and angel lovely who fights crime. Could somehow fall for him, a writer who writes crime. She will always be love's great martyr. And he will be the flattered fool. And they need each other.

They soon get separated from each other and are anxiously waiting for the moment to come that they can see each other again.

She goes over her vows in her head until the very last moment. And so does he.

Waiting at the alter, he watches the door as every person he loves walks through. And when he thinks that there couldn't be anything more beautiful then his love for her, he is proven wrong. She walks out and heads down the isle, arm in arm with her father. Wearing a white strapless dress that just made him forget everything else. The only thing he focused on was her. And when they made eye contact for the first time in days, they smiled. Because that is what they do, they smile at each other.

Finally, after the priest is done talking, he allows them to read their own vows. She went first.

"God gave me you for the ups and downs. God gave me you for the days of doubt. And for when I think I have lost my way, there are no words left here to say, it's true. And no my own I am only half of what I could be. I can't do without you, because we are stitched together and what love has tethered, I pray we never undo. Because I love you more than anything in the world. You and only you." She said and all he could do was smile at her because even thought he was the writer, he knew that when she wanted to show her love for him, no one could ever beat her. Not even him. but he could always pray.

"And God gave me you for everything in between. And he gave me you not for inspiration when I needed it most, but to love and cherish for the rest of my life. He gave me a challenge that I needed to face. He gave me something that I had to work for. And I am glad he did. He gave me the best thing in the world. And even though he made it really hard, I am glad that everything happened the way it did. And even though you were hurt in the process, multiple times I might add. It always got better. It brought us closer. And I am glad that we can be the dynamic duo every minute of our lives now. Because that is all I have ever wanted. And I am glad that God allowed me to be there after you recovered from Montgomery and your bullet. And I am glad that even though we both lied to each other numerous times, we were able to overcome it and be better. And even though people tried to break us up, they never did. They couldn't. And even when you almost took that job. I don't know what would have happened if I had to live without you. But I am glad that God won't let that happen. Because I love you more than the world. And even though sometime you may feel like you are one of a million, to me you are one in a million. And you are the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating person I have ever met. And I love seeing your smile every morning when I bring you coffee. I just love everything about you. and there are no words here left to say how I feel. But it is true. I love you."

They smiled at each other not really hearing what the preacher was saying until he asked them simple questions. The ones that they answered with, "I do."

They could hear him say, "You may now kiss the bride."

He didn't even wait until the sentence was finished. He pulled her in close and kissed her. When they pulled apart he whispered, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Castle."

"Always." They said at the same time. They could hear the crowd applauding and didn't care that there were probably photographers in the audience taking pictures. They didn't care that they might be on the front page of every magazine in the world. They didn't care about anything but them. Because in that moment, the only thing that mattered was that God gave them to each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Honey Bee

Blake Shelton

_This is Kate's way of telling Rick that she loves him. Happens a couple months after the morning after. _

"Rick, I have been thinking about us, and you know that I am not good at this stuff. But these feelings piling up won't give me no rest. This might come out a little crazy a little sideways, yeah maybe. I don't know how long it will take me but I will do my best." She says as he stands in front of her.

"I want you to be my soft and sweet and I will be your strong and steady. Can you be my glass of wine, and I be your shot of whiskey? Because you are my sunny day, I hope to be your shady tree. If you will be my honeysuckle, I will be your honey bee."

He tried to say something as I could see tears starting to roll down his cheeks, but I shook my head no, wiped the tears away and started again.

"That came out a little country, but every word was right on the money. And I have you crying right back at me. Now hold on, because I am not done. There is more where that came from. You know I am just having fun but seriously…" I said before feeling tears roll down my own face.

"If you will be my Louisiana, I will be your Mississippi. If you'll be my Little Loretta, I will be your Conway Twitty. You are my sugar, baby and I am your sweet iced tea. But most of all you are my honeysuckle, and I will be your honey bee."

I looked up at him and he smiled back down at me. And this time when he tried to talk, I let him.

"Your kiss just said it all. And I am glad we had this talk. Nothing left to do but fall in each other's arms. You could have just said, 'I love you'. You could have written me a line or two. But all you know to do is speak right from heart."

"I love you Rick."

"I know you do. Because even though you didn't say it, everyday that you stayed with me, I just knew that you did. And just know that I love you too."

"I know you do, and I will never forget."

"I know you won't. Now tell me this, since when do you like country?" He asked.

"I don't really. But that is just what it sounded like. So that is what I said."

"And what you said was definitely amazing. Just like you."

"You really think that I am amazing?"

"Yes, if I didn't, then there would not be a book series based on you."

"You know that it isn't just based on me. It is based on you too."

"No, Kate. It is based on us." He said as he smiled and pulled her in for a long hug.

"I am glad there is an us." She admits and looks up at him.

"Me too." He says as they lock lips and walk off into the rest of their lives together.


	4. Chapter 4

Over

Blake Shelton

_This happens after the kiss they shared while trying to save the boys. He realizes that he needs to make her his before Josh gets back from Africa. Because otherwise she is gone forever._

They are talking in the ambulance after they rescue the boys. She is rewrapping the bandage on his hand and thanks him for having her back in there. He smiles and thinks to himself, "If I could, I would dare. Feed your dreams, and starve your fears. If I could, light the world. We could sit and watch it burn. We could fall asleep inside the glow."

While he was thinking about her, he didn't realize that Kate was also thinking about him. She wants him to be hers, but she just doesn't know how to tell him. She doesn't know what to do. She is with Josh, and he is in Africa. What would she do?

They just sit there smiling at each other hoping that the other would say something. Something that they both know. Hoping that the other would confess what their thoughts were. Confess that they were thinking of each other. But before they got the chance, her phone started to ring. Josh. She looks up at Castle and he nods.

"Hello. Josh?" She says as she

And he thinks to himself again as he watches her talk to the one she loves. "If I could take you in, feeling you deep beneath my skin. Then I could slip away, with you as a poison in my veins. I don't wanna fall asleep alone. And wake up knowing that I died without the one."

He slowly climbs out of the ambulance and calls himself a taxi. As he waits for the taxi, he finds Ryan and Esposito. He sees how they are doing and wishes them the best when his cab pulls up. He says his goodbyes and searches the crowd for Beckett. When he finds her, he notices that she is still on the phone. She is smiling. And he thinks that it could never happen with them now. So he gets in the cab and rides away. Back to his apartment.

On his way over he thinks about her again, "Why can't you just tell me what I gotta do to win you over? You will never have to wonder if you need another. You will never have to wonder if I understand. And every time you reach for me you will find a hand out. But just tell me what to do. Because I love you."

Back at the crime scene, Beckett gets off the phone with Josh. She looks around but can't find Castle. She goes over to the boys to ask if they know where he is.

Five minutes later she is driving as fast as she could to his apartment. And when she finally gets there she practically runs into the lobby and to the elevator. She waits until she gets up to his floor, then runs again. She runs as fast as she could to his door. She knocks and waits. When the door opens, Alexis is standing there. Kate becomes a little confused.

"Beckett?" The teenage girl asks.

"Alexis? Where is Caslte?"

"Isn't he with you?"

"No, the boys said he went home."

"Ohh, well he isn't here. He must still be on his way. He probably took a cab. You know them. Always taking a long time to get to the destination. Just want to get extra money."

"Ohh. Okay."

"Do you want to wait for him inside?"

"Yah, sure." Kate says as Alexis opens the door up all the way and lets her in.

"You know where most of the stuff is. I will be in my room if you need me. Big physics test on Thursday." She said as she made her way up the stairs to her room.

When Alexis left, Kate thought she had time to think about what she was about to do. But she was wrong. As soon as Alexis went upstairs and was out of vision, she heard the front door open. She turned and got up from the couch to see who it was.

But the look on his face when she turned around made her rethink everything she had decided upon.

"Kate? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something. But then Josh called. When I finished with him, you were gone. The boys said you went home. I guess I drive faster than a cab does."

"Yah, I guess you do."

"Can we talk?"

"Umm, yah. I guess. What about?" He asked.

"Us."

"What do you mean?" He was now absolutely confused.

"Josh is back in town."

"Ohh." He said sadly.

"But I broke up with him."

"What?" He said looking back up at her.

"I told Josh that it was over. He isn't the one that makes me the happiest anymore. I thought he was, but he isn't. With him, I always wonder if I need another. I wonder if he understands me. And every time I reach for him I never find a hand out." She admits.

"I am sorry. I have ice cream. That always makes me feel better after a break up. Do you want some?" he asks as he starts to make his way to the kitchen.

She follows him but before he gets to the freezer, she pulls him back and says, "Castle. I don't want ice cream. I want someone who will win me over. I want someone who when I am with him, I never have to wonder if I need another. I never have to wonder if he understands. And every time I reach for him, I find his hand."

"Am I supposed to help you with that?" He asks.

"Seriously?" She says as she turns and walks back into the living room. She sits down on the couch and buries her face in her knees.

Castle quickly runs to her when he hears sobbing. "Kate? What is wrong?"

"You. Castle do you now understand what is happening right now?" She says not looking up from her knee caps.

"No, I actually don't." He says honestly.

She finally takes her head out from her knees and shifts so that they are facing each other. She looks up into his eyes and says, "I was trying to tell you that I wanted you to be the person I described. That you are all I ever wanted. I was trying to tell you that I love you."

He just looked at her in disbelief. He didn't know what to say. Was he supposed to say something, or was he supposed to kiss her? What was he supposed to do?

"Castle. Please say something, tell me that I didn't make a mistake. Please." She begged.

"No, Kate. With me you will never make a mistake. Never. I promise."

She just looks up at him and smiles. He takes that as a hint that everything is perfect between them and that they should move forward and on with their lives.

He places his hands on her cheeks and she can feel the warmth of his hands before he leans in and kissed her.

"Kate?"

"Hmmmm?"

"For the record, I love you too."


	5. Chapter 5

She Wouldn't Be Gone

Blake Shelton

_Written in Kate's POV. My version of what would happen if they broke up and how Kate would handle it. _

I see a small group of flowers on the side of the road and all I can think is if only I would have picked you, took you home and set you on the counter at least a time or too. Maybe he would have thought it through.

A yellow sunset slowly dipping down in the rearview. Oh how he would love to sit and watch you. I could have done that a whole lot more.

If I hadn't been so selfish, been so selfish, thought about him a little more and thought about me less. Joked and made him laugh, held him when she cried. Maybe if I would have just been there for him, instead of being a jerk about everything. A little more of that… maybe i…

Maybe I wouldn't be driving like hell, flying like crazy down this highway. Calling everyone we know. Stopping any place he might be. Going any place he might go while beating on the dash. Screaming out his name at the windshield with tears soaking up my face. If I had loved him this much all along. Maybe, just maybe he wouldn't be gone.

He had warned me, he said it was coming if I didn't change, said he was leaving.

But I just didn't believe that he would ever really walk out, but God, I believe him now.

I called his mother, cried like a baby to his daughter. If they've seen him, they ain't saying. And now, I am cursing like a fool, praying it ain't too late. And all I want to do is fix my mistakes.

I just want to find him. Just beg him for one more try. But until then, until I can find him, I have to live with what I did.

But I can't help thinking that if I would have loved him this much all along, then maybe he wouldn't be gone. Maybe he would still be her next to me. But until then, I am going to search for him. Because he is all I ever wanted.


	6. Chapter 6

Sure Be Cool If You Did

Blake Shelton

_ A memory from right before they got together, him thinking that it would be really cool if she would have let him fall for him the way they do in the movies. Like a fairy tale._

I was going to keep it real like chill, like only have a drink or two. But it turned into a party when she showed up at the loft after our fight. Now she is standing in the shadows looking like a high I wanna be on, but it is her call, no pressure at all from me.

She didn't have to put down her badge and gun and lean a little closer. She didn't have to keep smiling that smile that drives me wild. And when the night is almost over, meet me in the middle of my home. And do a little bit of country song, hanging on. She don't have to keep me falling like this. But it would sure be cool if she did.

She can't shoot me down, because she has already knocked me dead. She has me falling apart with my heart talking out of my head. Let her mind take a back road, just as far as you wanna go.

We have a night that she will never forget. And now she is standing in my doorway all soggy. And she doesn't have to reach up and kiss me. She doesn't have to apologize over and over. And I don't have to pull back and ask her what is wrong. She doesn't have to explain that I am what she wants, that I am the only thing she wants. And she doesn't have to keep me falling like this. But it'd sure be cool if she did.

And now I am glad that she did. I am glad that she kept me falling like that. I am glad that she quit her job, I am glad that she ALMOST died, I am glad that she figured us out. I am just glad that I have her. That the woman I met four years ago, the tough, stubborn, but extraordinary woman, is finally mine. And that she is finally begging me to take her in. And even though she is the most remarkable, challenging, maddening, frustrating person I have ever met, I love Katherine Houghton Beckett more than I have ever loved anyone before.


	7. Chapter 7

A thousand Years

Christina Perri

My heart beats fast, colors and promises. How to be brave? How can I love him when I am afraid to fall? But watching him stand alone? All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow and I am one step closer. One step closer to being able to love him the way I know he loves me.

"Kate? Hello? Are you even listening to me?" Rick said pulling her out of her daydream.

"Umm, sorry I was thinking about something." She said.

"Ohh, it is something good I hope."

"Actually, we need to talk. I lied to you." Kate said.

"About what? Kate what could you have lied about?" He asked confused.

"I remember everything."

"What?"

"I remember every…"

"No I heard you, but how could you?"

"I don't know. I am sorry. I wasn't ready to, and I didn't want to tell you in the hospital because I was weak and plus I was with Josh." Kate said feeling a tear come up from her heart.

"I have died everyday waiting for you. Three months I waited for you. Kate don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years. And I will love you for a thousand more."

"Why? Why do you wait for me? I am not worth it."

"Because when I am around you, time stands still. Beauty in all you are. I will be brave, and I will not let anything take away what is standing in front of me. Every breath and every hour has come to this. I fell as if I am one step closer."

"One step closer to what?" She asks now completely crying.

"Because all along I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me and I have loved you for a thousand years. And I will love you for a thousand more. Because if that is what it takes then that is what I will do. Because you are worth it. you are worth dying twenty times. You told me you were a one and done kind of girl. Well I want to be that one. That one that you call yours. Because I will always love you no matter what. A thousand years can come and go and I will still love you." He said as he took a couple steps towards her. He was now inches away from her face and he used everything he had in him to not kiss her until she was ready.

She stood there looking into his eyes. Seeing what he truly wanted. He only wanted her. How could she be so stupid. She wanted so badly to have told him then. Well her heart did at least. Her brain kept telling her not to because it wasn't right. She was dating Josh, she was happy with Josh. At least she thought she was. But everything had changed when she broke up with him. When she broke it off, she felt relieved. Like a huge pressure was lifted off her shoulders. She felt as if she could finally be with the one man who knew her better than anyone else. The one man who knew her and believed in her before anyone else and when no one else would. He was the one that pulled her out of the hanger. The one that tackled her off the podium. The one who told her that he loved her as she was dying. The one that she loved.

She was finally ready to take action. She closed the gap between their lips. His were soft and warm and full of love. She loved every second that they were connected.

He grabbed her cheeks and pulled them back in shock. "Kate. What happened in the last few seconds."

"I don't know. I don't know."

"What do you know?"

"I know that I was wrong and I should have listened to my heart three months ago when it told me to tell you what I heard. But I was so stupid to listen to it and I was scared. But I am not now. I think that I may be ready to try this."

He looked into her eyes and then planted another kiss on her lips while leading her into the bedroom.


	8. Chapter 8

Hard to Love

Lee Brice

The bomb in the bank went off earlier that day, and now Castle and Beckett were sitting in his living room drinking some wine that Martha had opened with dinner.

"Rick?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you love me?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"You remember?"

"Yes. And I am sorry. I should have told you before, but I was afraid."

"And that is why I love you. Because you are extraordinary. And will admit anything to me, no matter the cost. I could have taken that news in any way. But you told me anyways. Why?"

"Because when that bomb went off, I thought that I lost you. It felt like there was a missing piece in my life. Like there was a hole in my heart. I couldn't bear not allowing myself the kind of happiness that I wanted. And looking back on my life, after my mother's murder, after you going to the Hamptons with Gina, Montgomery's death. You told me you loved me. Then after everything we had been through after you poured your heart out to me while I was laying there, I knew that the happiness I wanted, the happiness I deserved, the only way I could have had it, is if I would have told you the truth and hope for the best."

"See. You over think things. That is why I love you." Castle said.

"I don't get it." She says as she smiles. "I am insensitive, I have a tendency to pay more attention to the things that I need. Sometimes I drink too much, most times I test your trust, sometimes I don't know why you stay with me."

"Because you are extraordinary."

"But I am hard to love. No, I don't make it easy. I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I am hard to love, and you say that you need me, I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good." She replies.

"Kate we are the same. I am a short fuse. I am a wrecking ball. Crashing into your heart like I do. You are like a Sunday morning. Full of grace and full of Jesus. I wish that I could be more like you."

"No you don't. I am a mess." Kate said looking into his eyes.

"Yes because maybe like you, I am also hard to love. And I don't make it easy. I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. You say that you need me, but I don't deserve it but i love that you love me good."

"You cannot use that. I said that first."

"I can when you have given me a million second chances. And I don't ever want to take you for granted. I am just a man. I am just a man that is hard to love. And I get that now. I am done denying it."

"No matter what you say, I realize now. I love you. And nothing can ever change that." Kate said.

Rick looked at Kate and realized that she wasn't joking. She really meant it this time and a smile creeped onto his face. And as soon as she saw the smile she closed the gap between them. The gap of a couch. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around him. She gave him the warmest hug she could. She wasn't planning on doing anything with him to soon. She just admitted to him, the man who she knew she had feeling with since she first met him, that she loved him. But when he took his hand and lifted her face up to look him into her eyes, she could see the desire and lust in his eyes.

She kissed him. Of all the dreams she ever had he was always the one to initiate the kiss. Never her. She was always afraid of what he might say or do. But this was perfect. His lips were amazing. They were warm, and soft. And his tongue was on fire. It was a hot mess. And she loved every minute of it. This kiss, this kiss meant a lot to her. It was the start of a new generation. It was so much better than the one they shared when they were trying to save the boys. She loved it. she loved his lips. She loved him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Love like crazy**

**Lee Brice**

_What if a conversation with an old man made Beckett realize what she is missing out on with Castle?_

She was sitting on a park bench, clearing her mind from the tough case in front of them. An old man sat down next to her and they started talking. She noticed that he had a ring on his hand.

"How long have you been married?" she asked the man.

"Fifty-eight years. And they called us crazy when we started out. They said that seventeen is too young to know what loves about. But we have been together fifty-eight years now." He said looking at Beckett. "I brought home sixty-seven bucks a week. We bought a little two bedroom house on Main Street. She blessed me with six more mouths to feed."

"Wow, how did you manage? I mean with people not believing in you like that?"

"Do you have a minute? It will only take a moment to tell you everything."

"I have all the time in the world." She said with a smile.

"Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse 'I love you'. Go to work, do your best, and don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your praying knees get lazy, and love like crazy."

"Thank you. Thank you so much for everything." She said as he finished.

"It was nice meeting you."

"Same to you."

######################3

After they closed the case, Castle was sitting in his chair like normal, he was just watching Kate do the paperwork. But Kate needed to talk to him. She couldn't get what the man said out of her head.

"Castle? Can we talk?"

"Umm, yah sure."

"Not here." She said as she got up and walked towards the elevator. He followed her until she got to her unmarked car. He slid into the passenger seat as she slid into the driver's seat. They drove in quiet until they reached a small park. They got out and Kate made her way over to the bench where she talked to the old man. She felt inspired by the bench.

"Kate, what is wrong?" Castle asked concerned.

"Nothing. I just had a conversation with a nice man yesterday here and I wanted to share with you."

"Okay, I am confused."

"They called him crazy when he quit his job, said the home computers, they will never take off. Well, he sold his one man shop to Microsoft. And they paid like crazy. I asked him how he made it, and he said faith and sweat. Plus the heart of a faithful woman who never let him forget to be a best friend, to tell the truth, and overuse 'I love you'. He went to work, he did his best and didn't outsmart his common sense. He never let his praying knees get lazy and he loved like crazy."

"What are you trying to say."

"I want that. His life. He was only seventeen when he fell in love, I want that. I just want someone who can be there for me like that. And I can be there for him. I just want that." She said looking down at the ground. "He told me that he always treated his woman like a lady, and she is never too old to call her baby."

"Why did you want me to know that? I am confused." Castle said. He couldn't put the pieces together just yet.

"I am telling you this, because what I want. Everything that I just described. I want it with you. I can't keep working with you, knowing that you are with someone else. I just want you." She said as a tear started rolling down her cheek.

Castle just looked at her speechless.

"Please say something. Reassure me or something. I need that." She pleaded.

"I don't know what to say. I mean I have waited to hear that forever. I have wanted to know that since we met. Because you were a remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating person I have ever met. And I love that about you. You get the things you want, not because you can, but because you do everything you can to get them. I just can't believe that this moment is finally happening."Castle admitted.

Kate looked up at him for the first time since sitting down and he could see the tears rolling down her face. He took her face in his hands ever so gently and pulled her in for a soft, light kiss. But when they connected, Kate pulled him even closer and they started to fight for dominance. All the sexual tension that had been there for three years was finally gone. All that had been adding up, all the breakups, or get together that they had witnessed for each other, none of that mattered anymore. Nothing mattered anymore because they finally had each other.

"Now, what are we going to tell Montgomery?" Castle asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Shut up and kiss me." Kate said as she giggled.

"Always."


	10. Chapter 10

**I Drive Your Truck**

**Lee Brice**

**_What would happen if Beckett would have died in the shooting and Castle had to live without her? Would he cope? Or will something else happen, something that could change their relationship forever?_**

The shots rang out and Castle leaped across the podium and tackled Kate to the ground. He saw blood. And her eyes were open and blood on her chest. He whispered, "I love you. I love you Kate. Don't leave me. Please don't leave me."

By the time the doctor came out of the operation room, he called Ryan and Esposito over to talk to them in private. When they came out, they looked really sad.

"what is wrong. What did he tell you guys?" Castle asked when he saw them.

"She… She…"Esposito started but could not continue.

"She didn't make it. she is dead. I just cannot believe it." Ryan finished.

As soon as Castle heard those words he ran out of the hospital. He went to the place that he knew no one would look for him. Her mother's grave.

##############3

A month had gone by since she passed and before he said goodbye to everyone at the precinct, he bought the patrol car that Beckett always drove. He needed something to remind him of her. Something positive. And every now and then he would take the keys and drive it around, just to feel her spirit.

He finally got the courage since the funeral to visit her grave site. And even though he knew that she would not respond to his words, he spoke anyways. "89 cents in the ash tray. A half empty bottle of Gatorade rolling in the floorboard. That dirty Mets cap on the dash. Dog tags hanging from the rear view. Old Skoal can, and hiking boots and an NYPD shirt folded in the back. This thing burns gas like crazy, but that is alright. People got their ways of coping. Oh, and I've got mine." He started as he layed flowers down on her headstone next to her mother. "I drive your truck. I roll every window down and I burn up. Every side street in this city. I even take it to the Hamptons. I find a field, I tear it up. Until all the pain's a cloud of dust. Yah sometimes I drive your truck."

He couldn't bear the fact that he was the reason that she was dead. He pushed too hard and she got shot in the heart because of him. Why?

"Did you know that I leave that radio playing that same old country station where you left it? I crank up the stereo. And you would probably shoot me right now. If you saw this tear rolling down on my face. I am trying to be tough and my mother asked me this morning, if I had been by your grave. But this flag and stone isn't where I feel you anyway. I drive your truck." He looked in the distance and thought he saw the silhouette of Kate, it couldn't be her, she was dead. It was just his imagination. So he focused on her grave and continued.

"I have cussed, I have prayed, I have said goodbye. Shook my fist and asked god why. These days when I am missing you this much. I drive your truck. I hope you don't mind. I hope you don't mind. I drive your truck." He felt someone watching him. And from working with Beckett for three years now, he learned to not spook them. So the pulled out his phone and was able to take a picture of the person without them noticing or so he thought. When he looked at the picture, he could see Kate, Kate was waving at him.

He looked over to where she was standing. She walked towards him and knelt down next to him in front of her mother's grave.

"Kate?"

"Hi, Castle."

"You are dead."

"No, I survived the shooting. But the boys, they thought there was a leak in the precinct so they had me fake my death that day. Not even my father knows. When I woke up from my surgery, I broke up with Josh and told him that I had to leave New York. I told him not to tell anyone. I have been up at my father's cabin."

"Why did they not tell me."

"Because I knew that if you knew that I was alive you would not be able to stay away from the precinct. You would not have been safe. I needed you to be safe."

"Do you even remember anything from the shooting? That day, I thought I lost you. And I have lived these last few weeks in pain, knowing that I would have to live without you."

"Castle, I remember everything. And there is something you need to know."

"Kate, listen to me. If you truly do remember everything, then you know that I had to live without the woman I love. I thought I had lost the woman I loved. And for a moment there when I told you, for a moment there I thought that look in your eyes was regret. I thought that you regretted allowing me to follow you. That maybe you thought that if you would have just said no to me three years ago, you wouldn't have had to go through this. That if I would not have been there, I would have never gone through your mother's case. And I would have never pushed you to look into it again. Montgomery would still be alive, and everyone would know that you are alive, because you never would have gotten shot. But I need to know, why did you reveal yourself to me? Of all the days. Why now? Exactly a month after you 'died?' "

"Because I am in love with you ." she blurted out. She couldn't hold it in anymore. "I didn't break up with Josh because I was supposed to be dead. I broke up with Josh because I realized that I loved you. And only you."

"then you should know that I love you too. But this will never work."

"It can if we try, Castle I love you. And if you care about me at all, just don't leave. I need you. I am sorry for the last month, but I couldn't put you in danger. I loved you too much."

"You know that there are only two people in the world that after something like this, I could forgive. And those two people who have been through everything with me."

"Castle I understand if you cannot forgive me, but…"

"What are you talking about? The only two people in the world that I could forgive are Alexis and you. We have been through everything together. I betrayed your trust and you forgave me. I went behind your back numerous times and you forgave me. We kissed and never talked about it. We almost die frozen in each other's arms and we never talked about it. I pulled you out of the hanger when Montgomery died. I tackled you off that podium when you got shot, and finally I delivered a eulogy that was the hardest thing I could ever write at a funeral I now know, had an empty casket. But through all that I can forgive you. Because of something you said during the second case we worked. You said you were a one and done kind of girl. And ever since I tried my hardest to prove to you that I was that one. But I can forgive you. Because I love you, and you do the craziest things for the people you love."

"Are we cool?"

"We are more than cool. As long as you promise that we can try. We can try to be happy. Because you deserve to be happy."

"I promise. Always. As long as you promise to love me." Kate said smiling.

"Always."


	11. Chapter 11

All You Ever

Hunter Hayes

_Told in Castle's POV. Kate decides that she doesn't want the job because all she wants is him. He doesn't know that. He thinks that when she calls him to talk, that she is taking the job._

I was sitting on the swing when she pulled up. She gets out of the car and makes her way over to me. She sits down next to me facing the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept secrets." She tells me as she pushes a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It's who you are. You don't let people in, and I have had to scratch and claw for every inch."

"Castle…"

"Please let me finish. I have been doing a lot of thinking about us. About our relationship, what we have. And where we're headed. I have decided I want more. We both deserve more."

"I agree."

"So what ever happens, what ever you decide. Katherine Houghton Beckett, Will you marry me?" I ask as I get down on one knee and pull out a ring.

"I…I…" She starts but then doesn't know how to continue.

"I can understand if you aren't ready."

"That's not it. you gave me chances and I let you down, you waited for words that I couldn't get out. I have no excuses for the way that I am. And I was clueless then, I couldn't understand. I couldn't understand that all that you wanted, all that you needed was a side of me I never let you see." She says as I get off my knee and sit back down on the swing.

"Look, I understand Kate. But it was my choice to wait for you. And there were only three words that I ever wanted to hear from you. And you said them to me. That is all that matters."

"I was standing on a bomb when I told you that. I was scared, I was scared that I would never have been able to tell you."

"But you did, it could have been under any circumstances and it would still mean the same to me. Because I love you." I say not really understanding what is on her mind like I usually do.

"I wish that I could love you the way you love me, and make you believe it. Because that is all you ever wanted. It is all you ever wanted from me. Could I be so selfish, or lost in my pride? Afraid to be forward or just too scared to try? And now I might lose you. that means living without you. and it took distance to see that losing you means losing everything. And it is too late and I feel like you are too far away to turn around and let be… let me be me. Because that is all you ever wanted. That is all you ever wanted from me. I am sorry Castle." She says and I stand up and take her into my arms.

"I am never too far away. I am always right here with you. No matter where you are. I promise."

"Then, yes Castle. I will marry you. because that is all I ever wanted." She tells me as she looks up into my eyes. I could see the fear she had within but it didn't matter to me. I slid the ring on her finger and pulled her in for a long slow kiss. This was the best day of my life.


	12. Chapter 12

Everybody's Got Somebody But Me

Hunter Hayes

_This is kind of like a split story. It is told in both Rick and Kate's POV, but the script keeps going. Kind of like you are watching it. it keeps changing from one person's scene and the other's. Kate is at the precinct doing work, and Castle is on his book tour. But then it just cuts to Kate's POV. Hopefully it makes sense to you._

Rick: I wish the couple on the corner would just get a room, and it seems like everyone around me is on their honey moon. I would love to take a pin to a heart shaped balloon. Because everybody's got somebody but me.

Kate: Well I don't know how I landed on this movie set, but it is like a casting call for Romeo and Juliet. I never would have noticed if we had never met. But everybody's got somebody but me.

Rick: I miss her because without her I just don't fit in. I know you are with Josh, but I am wishing we could give it a try.

Kate: I hear love songs playing on the radio and see people slow dancing everywhere I go. Well I am a good slow dancer but you would never know. Cause everybody's got somebody but me.

Rick: I am sitting here lonely at a table for two. Watching lovers being lovers in the corner booth. It seems like even cupid don't know what to do. Because everybody's got somebody but me.

Kate: I miss him because without him I just don't fit in. and I know that I just broke up with Josh, but I am wishing that I could try it with you.

"Kate?"

"Yah?" I say as I look up from my desk realizing I just spent the last ten minutes staring at nothing.

"Are you okay?" Javi asks.

"No, I am not."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I just miss him, that is all."

"Look, I know. We all miss him. but he is on his book tour. He will come back."

"I know Javi, but I just don't feel complete without him. I mean Ryan has Jenny, you have Lannie, and I am left here with no one."

"What are you talking about? You are with Josh."

"We broke up."

"Why?"

"Because I told him that I was in love with my partner."

"Wait. What?"

"I am in love with Castle."

"Ohh, are you now?" A voice from behind me said.

"Shit." I said under my breathe. "Javi. I am going to kill you."

"Sorry boss, he snuck up on us." Javi said with a smirk on his face and walked back to his own desk.

Castle sat down in his chair and just smiled at me. Then he leaned real close and whispered, "I love you to Kate."

"What are you doing here? Don't you have a tour to be on."

"I do, but I couldn't handle everybody having somebody but me. So I came back and was going to try to win you over. But I guess I don't have to now do I?"

"No, you don't."

"Now, can you just say that again? I want that as my ringtone."

"Fine." I said as he pulled out his phone. "I am in love with Richard Castle."

"Thank you. Now would you like to go get something to eat? I am starving."

"I would love to, as long as it is Chinese and we can take it back to my apartment."

"Deal." He said as he got up and helped me into my coat.

"Ohh, and one more thing Castle."

"Wh…." He started to say but I took a step closer and locked my lips onto his. It was just a quick short one, but the shock of it was all he needed to know that what I said was true.

"We better leave before Gates comes out and kicks me out."

"Yah, we should." I said as I grabbed his hand in mine and lead him to the elevator.


	13. Chapter 13

I want crazy

Hunter Hayes

_They are dating but Castle has to leave on a long tour. California, Washington, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, and then Pennsylvania. Four months away from her. Mostly told from Castle's POV._

"Hey, how are you doing?" He asked her.

"I don't know, I mean it has been a month and it still feels like you only left yesterday." She admits.

"Hey this might sound crazy. But what if I just flew out there for a day or two." He asked.

"You are right. That is crazy."

Well I am going to book myself a one way flight; I just gotta see the color in your eyes. And telling myself that I am gonna be alright. Without you baby is a waste of time.

Our first date, the seasons changed, it all got washed away in a summer rain. You can't undo a fall like this. Cause loves don't know what distance is. And so, it might be crazy, but I don't care.

I wanna be scared, don't wanna know why. Wanna feel good, don't have to be right. The world makes all kinds of rules for love. I say you just gotta let it do what it does.

And I don't want just another hug and kiss goodnight. Catching up calls and a date sometimes. I love that we are rebels, and we still believe we are the kind of crazy people wish they could be.

"But I don't want "good" and I don't want "good enough". I want "can't sleep, can't breathe without your love." Front porch and one more kiss; it doesn't make sense to anybody else. Who cares if you are all I think about? I have searched the world and in know now, it ain't right if you ain't lost your mind. I don't easy, I just want crazy. Are you with me Kate? Let's be crazy." I said to her.

"And I don't want crazy. Castle that is the problem, you think too much. I mean who needs to play it safe in love? I just want you. That is all I want. I just want you."

"You have me, always. Just know that."

"I do."

"I love you Kate."

"I love you Rick."


	14. Chapter 14

Love Makes Me

Hunter Hayes

_Just Caskett fluff._

"Hey, you know it don't take much, I am a sucker for the little things." He said to her and she touched his hand slightly. "Like the touch on my hand, and the sweet way you lean into me. It makes me feel good; it is a buzz how much I am into this. And no, I can't get enough. I mean just watching you sleep, staying up all night, and riding this heavenly high."

"I know you try your best to behave, and you can't help feeling this way. I know that it isn't your fault, so I don't blame you. Cause love makes you. And I think it is some kind of fiction. Or maybe the sweetest addiction. So what if we are crazy. Cause I know love makes us do it." She said to him and she leaned into him even more.

"I love you so hard sometimes you think I am stupid. But it is a fight I don't mind losing." He said as he just pulled her in closer. "It is like tearing the shrink wrap off and putting the needle down."

"Filling our bedroom up with a Cash song, cranking it up loud. Because it makes up feel good."

"Got the pedal pecked hard, and the Mustang drive. Horses screaming at me. And my mother praying that I will make it home alive."

"But it makes us feel good. Like sneaking out late. Telling white lies and stealing one more kiss tonight." She said as she kissed him good night.

Rainy Season

Hunter Hayes

_This happens after their first major fight as a couple. I didn't want to write another fight scene because it makes me sad so this is the aftermath. Written in Rick's POV._

"Say that you love me, even if it is not true, and just say that this storm is just passing through. And tell me you are not leaving. Because it is just the rainy season." I begged as she started to turn and leave. "Tell me that the air is getting heavy and we both know why. So dance one more dance and tell one more lie. Please. Let's keep make believing that it is just the rainy season."

"No, Rick. I think that this might be it. I can't do this anymore." She said to me as I grabbed her wrist to try and hold her back.

"We are taking on water. And drop after drop we are destroying this house and each other. So please let's make it stop. And I wish that I could just say and words were enough, to keep you from being the one giving up. Like the sky letting go for no reason. Like in the rainy season. But please tell me that you are not leaving."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Kate, we have been through everything possible together. We can get through this. I promise."

"I am sorry."

"No, you told me that you were a one and done kind of girl when we first met. I am your one and done. Just because we have one fight, one fight. Please don't leave. I love you so much. Please don't give up on us. Don't you love me?" I asked as I let her wrist go.

"Yes, I do. And I want you to be my only one, but I just don't know if I can do it anymore. I can't keep almost losing you in the field, but I can't work a day without you."

"Then we will work something out. I promise, but just for right now, please, just don't leave. Stay with me."

"Okay."


	15. Chapter 15

Somebody's Heartbreak

Hunter Hayes

_What if he didn't care what anyone thought anymore? What if he just took the chance at love and told her how he felt? Well when she wasn't dying. What if he just wanted her to know that he didn't care what they were, he just wanted her?_

Rick sat in his chair watching her do the paperwork after a long day. They closed a case that had a sweet ending. Two people, one writer and his muse. Just like them, well except they weren't together.

"I would love to know just what you are thinking. Every little river running through your mind. You give and take, you come and go. You leave me here wondering if I will ever know, how much you care or how much you don't. what ever you need or whatever you want."

"Rick…" She said as a warning.

"I guess that all I am trying to tell you, is a minute with you is better than two without. Oh, and I won't be a fool but I cannot play it cool. So I am playing it safe, and I am breaking the rules. I am wishing I had what I know you got. So if you are coming my way, then please don't stop."

"Rick, please don't do this right now." She begged when she realized what he was talking about.

"No, if you are going to be somebody's heartbreak, I want you to be mine. If you are going to be somebody's mistake, I want you to be mine. If you are going to be somebody's first time or somebody's last time, I want you to be mine. And if you are looking to be somebody's 'just friends', a little laughing, little loving, never calling again. That is just fine. But if you are going to be somebody's heartbreak, just be mine." He said, not able to hold it in anymore.

"Rick. I… I don't know what to say." She admits.

"You don't have to say anything. I will give you time to think about what I said. And depending on what you decide, just know that I have nothing planned for the next couple days, so if there is no case you know where I am going to be." Castle said as he stood from his chair and walked to the elevator.

She immediately got up and tried to catch the elevator but didn't make it. She instead ran to the stairs and climbed them until she got to the parking level. She could see him walking towards his car. She ran as fast as she could to him and grabbed him by the arm. He turned around but before he could even react, she kissed him. She kissed him and it was the best thing she could have ever done. He kissed her back and when they needed air, they separated and he could hear her say,

"If I am going to be somebody's heartbreak, I want it to be yours. If I am going to be somebody's mistake, I want it to be yours. If I am going to be somebody's last time, I want it to be yours. If I was looking for to be somebody's 'just friends', a little laughing, a little loving, never calling again, that is just fine. But if I am going to be somebody's heartbreak, I want it to be yours." She said as he pulled her in for another kiss.


	16. Chapter 16

Storm Warning

Hunter Hayes

_Written in Rick's POV. This happened when they first met. What was going through his head then and when she handcuffed him for the first time._

"Richard Castle." The voice said from across the room.

"Where would you like it?" I replied turning around with a pen in my hand. When I fully turned around, I could see a woman holding a badge.

Then Alexis leaned over my shoulder and said, "Well that is new."

When I saw the woman's face it was like she rolled in from the west in a summer sun dress. She was hotter than the heat in July. But even with her short brown hair that went to just above her shoulders it just wasn't fair, she was blowing my mind the way it had never been blown before. I wonder if all the hurricanes get their names from girls like this. She is a cat 5 kind keeps you up at night and hanging on to the edge of a kiss.

She is a beautiful mess, the kind you love to love. But what happens now?

"Detective Kate Beckett. NYPD. We need to ask you a few questions about a murder that took place earlier tonight." She said and her voice was like pure sunshine even though the look on her face looked irritated.

Ain't it funny how when it feels when you are bumming your wheels somewhere between going and gone. You get so lost that you cannot turn it on. Well she is a heart full of rain, red lips like a flame, and she is a girl from your favorite song.

What a beautiful mess she is. One part angel, one part perfect, one part a wreck. It is the kind of flood you will never forget.

Just the way she looked at me in the interrogation room. It was amazing. She looked like she was mad that I might be wasting her time, but seemed to enjoy my company. And then the look on her face when I volunteered to help solve the case.

Now we are sitting in the conference room I assume. I am finally reading some of my fan mail. Some of these people are crazy. I keep looking up at her because she is just so beautiful. And every now and then she catches my eye.

"What?" She asks.

"Nothing. No, it's just, uh, the way your brow furrows when you are thinking. It is cute. I mean not if you are playing poker. That would be deadly but otherwise-" I was saying and by the look on her face she didn't care.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

"Shoot."

"Why are you here? You don't care about the victims, so you aren't here for justice. You don't care that the guy's… aping… your books, so you are not here because you are outraged. So what is it, Rick? Are you here to annoy me?" She asks, and honestly it kind of hurts.

"I am here for the story." I say honestly.

"The story?" She asks.

"Why those people? Why those murders?" I answer.

"Sometimes there is no story. Sometimes the guy is a psychopath." She replies probably thinking that I will quit. But she is wrong.

"There is always a story, always a chain of events that makes everything make sense. Take you for example. Under normal circumstances, you would not be here. Most smart, good looking women become lawyers, not cops. And yet here you are. Why?" I ask honestly.

"I don't know Rick. You are the novelist. You tell me." She says obviously irritated.

"Well, you are not bridge and tunnel, no trace of boroughs when you talk. So that means Manhattan, that means money. You went to college, probably a pretty good one. You had options. Yeah, you had lots of options, better options, and more socially acceptable options. And yet you still chose this. That tells me something happened. Not to you. No, you are wounded but you are not that wounded. It was somebody you cared about. Someone that you loved. And you probably could have lived with that, but the person responsible was never caught. And that, Detective Beckett is why you are here." And I could tell by the look on her face that I was right.

"Cute trick, but don't think you know me." She said as she looked back down at some papers.

"The point is, there is always a story. You just have to find it." I said and I now have a feeling that when the sun comes up, I am going to wish I had a storm warning, I am going to wish I had a sign. Maybe a little heads up, a little leeway, a little more time. Or at least some sort of radar system locked in on love. I got a feeling by the time the night finds the morning I am going to wish I had a storm warning.

But for now, I just have to hope and pray that I do not screw this up. Because I think that I am in love with her.


	17. Chapter 17

Wanted

Hunter Hayes

_Takes place on the swing set after Beckett was shot. Castle just wants to make her feel wanted. He wants her to remember how he feels. _

"I like the dedication." She says as they sit down on the swing set.

"Seemed right." He replies.

"Must have been hard writing that ending." She says as she still doesn't look up at him.

"Yeah, given the circumstances. Yeah." He quickly checked his watch and then asked, "So, why did you guys break up?"

"I really, really liked him. But that wasn't enough." She said as she tries to gage Castle's reaction, but he doesn't look at her. "After my mother was killed, something inside me changed. It is like I built up this wall inside. I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to hurt like that again. I know I am not going to be able to be the kind of person that I want to be. I know I am not going to…"

Castle finally looks up at her.

"I am not going to be able to have the kind of relationship I that I want… until the wall comes down. And it is not going to happen until I put this thing to rest." She admits.

"Well then I suppose we are just going to have to… to find these guys and take them down. Doesn't mean that I am not still mad at you."

"I know."

"But I need to know something first."

"What is it?"

"Do you really not remember anything about the shooting?"

"You know I have been going over that day in my head for three months now. I remember giving a speech, you tackling me. I think you said something, but that is where I black out. My therapist said that it was normal for victims of incidents like this to make stuff up when they are in trauma, so I honestly don't know what is true and what I just made up." She said as she looked him in the eyes and hoped that he couldn't tell that she was lying.

"Do you have any idea what I might have said?"

"No, do you remember what you said? Maybe it could help fill in the missing pieces from that day." She said as she continued to look into his eyes.

He stopped for a second to think about what this might mean for them if he told her what he felt. But he didn't care, she needed to know.

"I just kept saying to stay with me, I asked you not to leave, I asked you to stay with me." He said as he looked down.

"Oh, is that all?" She asked and he could tell that her voice had saddened a little. So he continued.

"No, I said that I love you." He said as he looked back up into her eyes and he could see a tear running down her face.

"Rick…"

"You know that I would fall apart without you. I don't know how you do what you do. Because everything that don't make sense about me, well it makes sense when I am with you." He said interrupting her. "Like everything that is green, girl, I need you. But it is more than one and one makes two. Put aside the math and the logic of it all and you gotta know you are wanted too."

"Rick…"

"No, let me finish. Anyone can tell you that you are pretty, and I bet you get that all the time, well I know you do. But your beauty is deeper than the make-up. And I wanna show you what I see tonight. Because as good as you make me feel, I wanna make you feel better, better than your fairy tales, better than your best dreams. You are more than everything I ever need. Because you are all I ever wanted."

"Rick I lied to you." She said as quickly as she could so that he wouldn't interrupt her.

"What?"

"I lied to you, about Josh."

"How?"

"I said that the reason we broke up was because of my mother's case. That is not why we broke up. I broke up with him because I was in love with you." She said as tears started rolling down her face and she turned away from him so that he couldn't see her cry.

"Kate, look at me." He begs.

She turns back around wiping at her face. "You know that I just want to wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips, I just want to make you feel wanted. And I wanna call you mine. Wanna hold your hand forever and never let you forget it. I just want to make you feel wanted."

After hearing that, he closed the space between them and kissed her. At first she didn't know what to do, because this was still very new to her. but when she realized that this is what she wanted, she placed her hands on the side of his cheeks, and she deepened the kiss.

"Rick, I love you so much." She said.

"I love you to, but I am still mad."

"How can I change that?" She said as she kissed him again.

"Time, love, and I can think of a few other things." He said with a smile on his face. She giggled and just kissed him again. And again. And again.


	18. Chapter 18

Always The Love Songs

Eli Young Band

_This is when they first start out as a couple. They are still young and it was always the love songs that got to them._

They used to pull off Highway 249, and had a cool little place where they would go and hide on Friday night. They would get away from the city lights, and find a little wood and build a fire.

Somebody would always bring a couple of guitars and she would play them as he sang horribly. But they would still take turns singing songs and watching it burn.

"Do you remember we would do 'Ramblin Man', 'Proud Mary', and 'American Band'? And we would be singing at the top of our lungs." He asked.

"Yah, and I remember you having the worst voice in history." She teased.

"I remember there was always a line that stuck in your head. That was said in a way you wished you could have said. But we both knew that they were singing it right to each other. It felt so good those times we had. That feeling of wanting somebody so bad, made us weak in the heart you couldn't take being apart. Just some Honky Tonk drinking songs, yah I remember we could do them all night long. But the ones that we remember the most…"

He started to say but then Kate finished, "They were always the love songs, everything. Made everybody feel something inside. With the fire down low you held me real close. Made you wanna love the one you were with, and gave you the courage for that first kiss. Because it was always the love songs."

"Yah, it was. But that is what made us good. Because we both loved the love songs. That what makes our partnership so good. And these songs are practically the story of us. Which I hope never ends."

"Awww, that is so sweet." She said as she leaned over and kissed him. Each and every kiss was just as magical as the first. They couldn't help it, they had been falling in love since they first met. And they both knew it.


	19. Chapter 19

Crazy Girl

Eli Young Band

_What if Beckett was thought to be mental? What if she was put into a mental institution? Would Castle get her out?_

"Baby, why you wanna cry?" He asked her.

"Because you are leaving me in here to rot. How could you do that Castle? I thought you loved me. Tell them I am not crazy. Tell them that Jerry Tyson is really back. Tell them the truth." She yelled at him.

"You really oughta know that I just have to walk away sometimes. We are gonna do what lovers do. We are gonna have a fight or two, but you should know that I will never change my mind." He said to her sternly.

"I wouldn't last a day in here. You know that. I would probably just fade away. Without you, I would lose my mind. Before you ever came along, I was living life all wrong. The smartest thing I ever did was make you all mine." She said as he walked away. He left her in that room, he left her by herself until he could straighten things out.

He went back to his loft to try and find the evidence he needed to prove to the government that, Katherine Beckett was not crazy and that Jerry Tyson is really back. And Castle knew just where to look. He practically tore apart his apartment until he could find the bugs that he knew were there. They just had to be there. How else would Jerry Tyson know the things that he knew?

When he finally found what he was looking for, he took it to Captain Gates, and had her team run it. The results came back with a location. The boys quickly went to the location and found that it was occupied by Jerry Tyson. The boys were not able to capture or kill Tyson, but now that there was evidence that he was actually back, Castle was able to get Beckett out of the mental facility.

He went to pick her up the next morning, and when she saw him, she was furious but happy at the same time. She ran to him and hugged him. she said that she was sorry and that she didn't mean a word that she said.

The only thing he had to say back was, "Crazy girl, don't you know that I love you? And I wouldn't dream of going nowhere. Silly woman, come here, and let me hold you. Have I told you lately? I love you like crazy."

She looked up at him in the eyes and smiled. There was no more doubt in her mind that he did. She loved him too. And no matter what happened from that moment on, there would be nothing that would ever be able to change it. Not a job offer in D.C., not Eric Vaughn, not even Jerry Tyson and his mystical ways of torture and killing.


	20. Chapter 20

Even If It Breaks Your Heart

Eli Young Band

_ Set in season two when Castle asks her to go to the Hamptons with her for a little while. And what if Gina doesn't show up to interrupt their conversation? Beckett doesn't want to be with Castle because she thinks that if he doesn't feel the same about her then her heart would be broken and she is afraid. But can he change her mind?_

"Hey, Castle? What are you still doing here? I thought you were going to the Hamptons." She asked.

"Can we talk?"

"Umm, yah sure." She said as she led him into a conference room.

"Do you not want to go with me to the Hamptons?" He asked quickly as soon as she shut the door.

"What?" She asked.

"Do you not like me? I thought we were friends, but maybe I was wrong. Because I like you and I just thought maybe it would have been a good idea to ask you to join me in the Hamptons." He said hoping that she wasn't going to shoot him.

"No, I like you it's just I was scared. Because my whole life has been as hard if not harder than a struggling artist. I am just about to quit when way back on the radio dial, the fire gets lit under a bright-eyed child. Every note just wrapped around his soul, from steel guitars to Memphis, all the way to rock and roll. I feel like that is the best way to describe my life."

"Look, Kate. Downtown is where I used to wander. Old enough to get there, but too young to get inside. So I would just stand out on the sidewalk and listen to the music every Friday night. And people have told me that some dreams stay with you forever, drag you around but bring you back to where you were. And some dreams keep on getting better, but you have got to keep believing if you wanna know for sure."

"Yah, so I have been told."

"Then what are you afraid of?

"Getting my heart broken because I was not good enough."

"But Kate, if you want something. Especially if you want something that means a lot to you, you have to keep dreaming even if it breaks your heart. You just have to jump head first into whatever it is." He said and for some reason she found the courage she needed.

She took a couple steps closer and placed her hands on his face. She leaned in closer and kissed him. She kissed him like she never kissed anyone before.

He just stood there not knowing what to do. He didn't know if he was supposed to take a step back or take a step forward. But he knew that he couldn't give her the advice he did and not use them himself. So he took the step forward and the battle for dominance began.

They kissed and kissed. Just stood in the conference room. Not caring that Ryan was now handing Esposito and twenty with a sad look on his face. They didn't care that any minute; Montgomery would walk in and make Castle leave. All they cared about was the moment they were in. They just wanted each other.

"So, are you coming to the Hamptons with me?" He asked.

"What do you think?" She replied and leaned in to kiss him again.


	21. Chapter 21

Cowboy Take Me Away

Dixie Chicks

_Kate makes her decision on the proposal. Is it good or bad? _

"Rick, when I first met you, I told you that I wanted to touch the earth, I wanna break it in my hands. That I wanted to grow something wild and unruly." She said as she looked at the man on one knee.

"I want to sleep on the hard ground, in the comfort of your arms, or on a pillow of bluebonnets, in a blanket made of stars."

"Is that a yes?" He asks. "Cause my knee is starting to hurt."

"Yes. I will marry you." She says as she laughs as he gets up off of one knee and kisses his fiancé.

"I love you Kate."

"I love you too, and Cowboy? Take me away, Fly me as high as you can, into the wild blue? Set me free, cause I pray closer to heaven above and closer to you. I wanna walk this life, not run. I wanna skip with you and not fall. I wanna look at the horizon and not see a building standing tall. I just want to be the only one in your eyes for miles and miles. I just want you and your simple smile."

"I would love that." He said as he took her hand and they started to walk. "It sounds good to me. And like you first said, I wanna touch the earth, I wanna touch it with you. I wanna break it in my hands, with you by my side. I wanna grow something wild and unruly, but only if you help me. Because I love you. Forever and Always."

"Me too."


	22. Chapter 22

Landslide

Dixie Chicks

_This happened in after Montgomery's death and Beckett's shooting. The only difference is that Beckett never left for three months, they had a conversation when she got out of the hospital._

He was sitting in his office trying to write, it had been three days since she said she would call. He was starting to think that she wasn't going to call. But then his phone started ringing and her beautiful face showed up on the screen and he felt as if his heart skipped a beat.

"Kate?"

"Rick, can we talk?"

"Ummm, yah sure. I will be at the hospital as soon as I can." He said as he stood up from his chair and grabbed his coat.

"No, I am not at the hospital. Actually I am out in the hallway." She said.

He quickly walked to his door and opened it. There stood Kate. He invited her in and got some blankets for her. She sat down on his couch and let him wrap her up in numerous blankets.

"Can we talk now? Please?" She asked.

"Yes, of course." He said as he finally sat down next to her on the couch.

"I took my love and I took it down. I feel like I climbed a mountain and I turned around. And I can see my reflection in the snow covered hills. I feel like a landslide brought me down."

"Are you okay?" He asks, not really understanding what she was trying to say.

"No, what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I even handle the seasons of my life? Look, Rick you were right. Last week, you were right. I have been afraid of changing because I built my life around my mother's case. But I have heard that time makes you bolder, and that children get older. And I am getting older too. And I think that it is finally time for me to change the things that are around me." She says as she looks him in the eyes.

"Are you asking me to take your love and take it down? Are you asking me to climb the mountain and turn you around? Are you asking me if I see your reflection in the snow covered hills? Because I know that this landslide did not bring you down. It only made you stronger."

"Yah, I guess I am."

"But what about Josh? I thought that he would be the one to help you with these things."

"I don't want him to. I want you. I just want you." She says as she looks him directly in the eye. They catch each other's gaze for a couple of seconds until Castle sees the truth in her words.

"You know?"

"Yah. And I am sorry. I lied to you. I just didn't know what to do. He was there, he was there in the hospital when you came to see me. I didn't know how to handle the situation. But I do now." She said.

"Well, I am glad that you do. Cause this is a good thing right?"

"Yes. It is. I am ready to build my life around something else. I am ready to give up my mother's case if it means that I can be happier. And I think that you can help with that. I want you to help with that."

"Really?"

"Yah," She said as she tried to move closer to him.

"I would be honored to do that." He said back as he noticed her moving closer. He closed the gap between them and their lips met. It was like a gun was going off. That moment of pulling the trigger to end someone else's life instead of your own. That moment of relief. That kiss was the best that either of them had ever had before. But it couldn't last long. She pulled away suddenly and immediately put her hand to her scar.

"I am sorry, the scar still pulls a little and sometimes it hurts."

"No, take all the time you need. Because you are amazing. I will wait for you however long it might take. Because I think you are definitely worth it."

"Just shut up. You talk too much."

"Ohh, geez, out of surgery and what? Four days later you are already being mean to me? New record or something?"

She just shook her head with a smile and kissed him again. Even though she didn't think she was ready to say it quite yet, she loved him.


	23. Chapter 23

Travelin' Soldier

Dixie Chicks

_What if they met before she arrested him? When she was still in law school? What if she was working at a small café trying to pay for tuition? And her mother was still alive. And what if he left her to do research and something bad happened to him? just going to let you know that this one shot is a really sad one. So if you don't want to be sad then just skip it. otherwise feel free to read it. _

It was two days past eighteen, he was sitting in the same booth that he always sat in. he was waiting for his big break, just waiting for someone to like his work. He gave his order to a girl with a thin green bow in her hair. He was a little shy so she gave him a smile. And he asked her if she would mind sitting down for a while.

"Just talk to me? I am feeling a little low."

"Well I am off in an hour and I know where we can go."

They went and sat down on the pier, and he started first.

"I bet you have a boyfriend right? But honestly, I don't care. I have no one to write to. Would you mind if I sent a letter back to you?"

They had a nice chat and she fell for him. She never realized that the letter they sent back and forth would be his inspiration to keep moving forward and try again.

The letters came from California, and then Vietnam. And he told her of his heart. He told her it might be love and all of the things he was scared of. He said that when it getting rough over there, he thinks about the day sitting down at the pier with her. And he closes his eyes and sees her pretty smile. But not to worry, because he wouldn't be able to write for a while.

But all of a sudden the letters stopped. And she cried, never going to hold the hand of another guy. Too young for him they told her. Waiting for the love of a traveling writer. Because their love will never end. Waiting for the writer to come back again. But never more to be alone when the letter said, that the writer's coming home.

One night at a football game, the Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang.

A man said, "Folks would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead."

Crying all alone under the stands was a young woman. And one name read but nobody really cared. He didn't actually serve for the US. He was just there doing research. The only one who cared was a little girl with small green bow in her hair.

And she cried, now never wanting to hold the hand of another guy. She was waiting for the love of the writer. The one that now, she would never get the chance to be with. All she had left of him was the letters he sent. But now all the letters said was that he was never coming home. And even though she only really spent a couple of hours with the man before he left, she fell in love with Richard Rogers. And that event in her life turned her world upside down. Because not that long after, her mother was murdered, and her father became the drunk that was abusive. She dropped out of law school and couldn't think straight. There were no Derek Storm novels to read, and there was no Richard Castle. She never became the cop she is today, and she never met Ryan and Esposito. And Alexis was never born, Meredith was still a nobody, and Gina. Well, Gina found someone else to publish. But the saddest of them all was that Rick and Kate never got the chance at love that they both wanted.


	24. Chapter 24

Wide Open Spaces

Dixie Chicks

_This is more of a one shot between Castle and Martha. It is about her going to D.C. without him. Her telling him to just give Kate space and when she was ready she would come to him._

"Richard, you may not know what I am talking about. You never really left home, you never struck out. You may have found a dream and a life of your own, but Kate is a place in the clouds, a foundation of stone." Martha said.

"Many precede and many follow. This young girl's dream is no longer hollow. It will take the shape of a place down south. But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed." She continued.

She looked at Rick and could see the sadness in his eyes. "Honey, look I know that you love her. But she traveled this road as a child. Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired. But now she won't be coming back with the rest. So if this is a life lesson, she is going to take the test."

"Are you saying that I need to let her go? I cant do that." He says.

"No, what I am saying is that you need to let her go, need to let her check her own oil, let her feed herself, let her do the things she needs to do."

"How? How am I supposed to let one of the most important things in my life go?"

"Don't let her go, not all the way. She needs wide open spaces, she needs room to make a big mistake. She needs new faces. Rick, she knows the high stakes. Katherine is a big girl and can fend for herself. You just need to let it happen."

"Thank you Mother."

"Just don't do anything stupid." Martha says as she leaves the office. A couple minutes after she leaves, his phone starts to ring. Beckett.

"We need to talk." She says. And he replies, "Yes we do."

And you know what happens from there. They meet in the park on the swing set that has come to mean so much more. They talk and it sounds like Castle is going to break up with her. She lets her feelings show in her facial features. He says, "You deserve so much more." And then he gets down on one knee and proposes. The answer to the question is unknown. So far.


	25. Chapter 25

Without You

Dixie Chicks

_Kate leaves Rick for the job. But the job sends her to Hawaii. Will the change of scenery be enough for Beckett to realize that without Rick, she is broken and incomplete? Written in Kate's POV._

After he proposed, I said no. I was afraid, I was afraid of what that would mean. I ran. I ran and now I am sitting in my apartment in Hawaii. Hawaii? How did I get so far away?

I have sure enjoyed the rain in New York, but I am looking forward to the sun here in Maui. I guess you have to feel the pain when you lost the love you gave to me.

But I thought by now the time would take away these lonely tears that I have shed. And I really do hope you are doing fine all alone. Even though I am the one who is really alone. He has Martha, he has Alexis, he has the boys, he has Lannie, even my father has probably joined his side too.

I guess the question is where do I go from here?

Well I never thought I would be lying here on this bed without you by my side. It seems so unreal to me that you promised me I didn't accept. I couldn't accept that you made it look so easy, making love into memories, but I guess you didn't get what you wanted because of me.

I have tried to meet new people but I can't because I try to get people to tell my head to tell my heart that I am better off without you. because I can't live without you. and now I realize everything I have done since that warm June day was wrong.

So here I am dialing your number and hoping that you never got over me. Hoping that even though I broke your heart, you will still take me back.

There are three rings and then I hear your voice. "Hello?"

"Rick."

"Kate?"

"I am sorry."

"Why are you calling?"

"I am so sorry."

"Are you okay?"

"No. Without you I am not okay. Without you I have lost my way. My heart is stuck in second place, without you."

"Hmmm."

"Rick?"

"Hmmm?"

"I am sorry for everything. I was wrong. I should have never left." She admitted.

"Are you trying to ask me to take you back? Do you know the pain you put me through?"

"No, I don't. But am sorry. Over these past few weeks, being here alone. I have realized that I mean nothing without you. I can't concentrate on my job. And the job just isn't fun anymore. You made my life so much better. You made my life easier, and I felt complete when I was with you. And now I feel empty, and I have no idea what to do anymore. So please can I come home?"

"Always."


	26. Chapter 26

Come Over

Kenny Chesney

_This happens when Castle denies Kate's call and then deletes her file from his own murder board. He gets to thinking what would happen if they had actually been together and they broke up. Would he be able to handle it?_

Rick POV:

I turn the TV off, to turn it on again. I stare at the blades of the fan as it spins around. I count every crack and the clock is wide awake. I talk to myself, anything to make a sound.

So I called her. She didn't answer and after three rings I left her the only message I could think of. "I told you I wouldn't call, I told you I wouldn't care. But baby climbing these walls gets me nowhere. And I don't think that I can take this bed getting any colder. Please just come over."

Kate POV

I listen to the message that he left. And I can say that we are done the way I always does. Because it is easier to lie to him then myself. But I forget about my friends, because I know what they are going to say. They would say that we are bad for each other, but I know we ain't good for anyone else. So I call him back and after three rings I say, "I know that I told you that I wouldn't call you either, and I said that I wouldn't care about you. But solving these cases isn't getting me anywhere. And like you said. I don't think that I can take the coldness of my bed either. I don't want to miss anything else. Can I come over?"

Rick POV:

"We don't have to miss each other. We don't have to fix each other. We don't have to say forever. You don't have to stay forever. But just come over, please." I said back to her.

And not too long later, a knock on my door brings me out of my daydream. I open it to find a drenched Kate Beckett crying.


	27. Chapter 27

Don't Blink

Kenny Chesney

_Rick and Kate are happily married and have two children. Jackson and Johanna. Jackson is sixteen and a junior in high school, while Johanna is fourteen and a freshman. _

One night I turned on the evening news and saw an old man being interviewed. He was turning a hundred and two today. The anchor asked him what's the secret to life, and he looked up from his old pipe. He laughed and said, "All I can say is…

_Don't blink. Because just like that you are six years old and you take a nap. When you wake up you are twenty five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife. Just don't blink, you might just miss your babies growing like mine did. They turn into mom's and dad's and next thing you know your better half. Of fifty years is there in bed, and you are praying God takes you instead. Trust me, a hundred years goes faster than you think, so don't blink._

I was glued to my TV, with Kate by my side and it felt like he looked at me and said, "Best start putting first things first."

And I realized that when your hourglass runs out of sand, you cant flip it over and start again. You need to take every breathe God gives you for what it is worth. I turned to Kate and she asked me what is wrong.

I said, "That old man is right."

"What do you mean?"

"Our kids are in high school. It still feels like yesterday I was fighting for your love. Watching you walk away with Dr. Motorcycle boy. It still feels like it was yesterday when you got shot and I confesed everything to you. It still feels like it was yesterday when I pulled you out of that hanger. It still feels like it was yesterday that we fought and I thought we were done forever. It still feels like it was yesterday when Alexis graduated high school and went off to college. It still feels like it was yesterday when you knocked on my door and finally realized what you wanted. It still feels like it was yesterday when I could finally cross of the number one on my bucket list. And it still feels like it was yesterday when you finally said 'I love you' to me. I don't want to waste any more time. I don't want to miss Jackson and Johanna growing up. And I don't want to miss growing old with you because I already missed the first four when I met you. I wasted four years of my life. I could have had those with you but I was afraid. I wasted so much time already."

"Rick, it doesn't matter. What happened back then, none of that matters now. All that matters now is that you are here now, here with me. And we have two kids together, and another that I love to death. And even though ours are in high school and Alexis is the chief medical examiner with Lannie, this is where we are. So yah, the old man is right, but even if we blink, we still have each other. Always. Nothing can ever change that."

"Yah, Always." He said as he pulled her close and never let her go.


	28. Chapter 28

Never Wanted Nothing More

Kenny Chesney

_Castle's writing a short auto-biography, but not just about him. About his life before and after meeting Katherine Houghton Beckett._

As a teen I could not wait to turn 16 and drive all my friends around. With my foot on the gas and hands on the wheel, I felt like I was on top of the world. A little bit of rust in the bed of the truck and a four speed on the floor, only five-hundred dollars and it was all mine. And I never wanted nothing more. No, I never wanted anything more than my own car until I first met a certain Detective. I vowed to myself that day that I would do anything I possibly could to call her mine. I worked side by side with her everyday until I finally broke down her walls and slowly I made her realize that there was a connection between us that I have never felt before. Not with Meredith. Not with Gina. Not with anyone. And when I met her I never wanted nothing more. I wanted Katherine Houghton Beckett more than a sixteen year old wants their first car.

I finally was able to take Katie down to the river with a sex dollar bottle of wine, just a fool trying to play it cool and hope that she would let me cross the line. I was praying that she couldn't tell that I hesitated at first. But the first time with someone is a onetime feeling, and I never wanted nothing more. No I never wanted nothing more.

But I told her that I'm what I am and I'm what I'm not. And I am sure happy with what I've got. I live to love and laugh a lot. And that is all I need. Well besides her that is. She was my world.

And even though my buddies all tried to change my mind, I told them that I had thought it through. So when I asked her to marry me, everything changed. At first, she just stared at me with a blank look on her face. She was shocked. She looked me in the eyes and said, "Rick, I can't not like this. This isn't right." When she said that I felt like my heart was breaking. I thought that she didn't love me the way I loved her. I thought that it was over between us. I was wrong. When she saw the look on my face she made sure that I knew that she loved me. She just didn't want me to get engaged at a time like that. She felt that she couldn't accept the ring when she just betrayed me. I didn't care. I said that I would wait for her. And for four more months she wore the ring that I gave her on the necklace that held her mother's ring. And exactly four months after I originally asked her, I got down on one knee again and properly asked her. And this time she said yes.

Katie, my Katie laughed and my mother cried when they heard me say, "I do, I definitely do." And now her little ring is a little thing, but that is all she would accept. Now she is mine, all mine till the day that I die, and I have never wanted nothing more.

One Sunday I listened to the preacher and I just knew that he was preaching to me. I couldn't help it, I got up and took the hand of my wife, walked out of the church and asked her to be the mother of not only my Alexis, but of an unborn child. She was so shocked and I knew that these kind of things I should not just throw out at her. But the preacher really got to me and I didn't want to wait. At first, when I asked her she looked at me like she was horrified. But then when I started to apologize, she surprised me. She always surprises me. Even to this day. She asked me how I knew. I did not know what she was talking about. How did I know what? She looked me straight in the eyes and told me that she was already the mother of my unborn children. She smiled up at me and all I could do was smile like a little kid who just got home from trick-or-treating. She was, I mean is the mother of my children. I couldn't believe it. We welcomed little Jackson into the world on December 11th, 2013. And not to long later welcomed little Johanna. When I told her that I wanted to name my little girl after her mother, she looked up at me and said that this was wonderful, that she never wanted nothing more. She never wanted nothing more. And neither did I.


	29. Chapter 29

Who You'd Be Today

Kenny Chesney

_Beckett dies when she was shot and now Castle is mourning her death. He remembers all the good times they had. And wonders what could have been._

He sat down in his chair at her desk. Looked around the precinct. Didn't care that the new Captian didn't want him there. It seemed that the sunny days seemed to hurt the most. He wears the pain like a heavy coat. He still feels her everywhere. He sees her smile, and her face, and hears her laughing in the rain. But most of all, he still cannot believe that she is gone. He can't handle it anymore. He gets up and walks out. He doesn't know why but he rushes to her grave and sits there for at least an hour before finally speaking.

"It ain't fair, you died too young. Like the story that had just begun. But death tore the pages all away. God know how much I miss you, and all the hell that I have been through, just knowing no-one could take your place. And sometimes I wonder: Who you'd be today?"

He just looked at her grave marker. And next to it was her mother's he just couldn't believe that she was really there. He sometimes hoped that she would knock on his door and say she was on vacation or something.

"Would you see the world? Would you chase your dreams? Settle down with a family? I wonder what you would name your kids, well besides Johanna. Cause I know you would have wanted that. And sometimes the sky is so blue, and I feel like I can talk to you. And I know that might sound crazy, but it just isn't fair that you died to young."

In the distance he could see the outline of her and that smile. That smile that made him melt every time. And even though he knew that she would never come back, he prayed and hoped every day. He turned to leave but quickly turned back and said, "Sunny days seem to hurt the most, I wear the pain like a heavy coat. The only thing that gives me hope, is I know I'll see you again someday. And when that time comes. Just know, that I love you. Always."

He spent more than half his time at the cemetery bringing her flowers and just talking to her like she was still there. And the time that he was not there, he spent searching for her mother's killer.

Five years later, he can finally go to her grave and tell her that the man who killed her mother, and the whole organization behind it was done. That they were all either dead, on death row, or going to spend the rest of their lives rotting in a fifteen by fifteen cell.

Twenty years later Richard Castle died. The only thing that he requested when he died was to be buried as close to Katherine Beckett as he could be. He didn't care about anything else. He just wanted to be near her. He would get his wish. He would reunite with her. In heaven. And even though it felt like it was a million years later, he didn't care. Because he got to see her again. He got to hear her laugh, and cry and he got to feel her love again. Because no matter what anyone ever said, they loved each other.

Always.


	30. Chapter 30

You Save Me

Kenny Chesney

_Written in Kate's POV. She realizes that everything she has been through, every tough and horrible thing in her life that she went through, there was always one man who saved her. Richard Castle. And even if he didn't know it, he saved her. And maybe, just maybe it was time to let him know. Takes place the morning after. _

I walk into his bedroom with two cups of coffee. I finally get to bring him coffee. So now I only owe him 99 instead of 100. He wakes up and says, "So this isn't a dream."

That comment made me laugh. And I replied with, "No, it definitely is not." He smiles as I hand him his coffee. He takes a sip before I take it back and set both his and mine on the bedside table. He looks at me funny but before he can ask what was wrong I spoke.

"I need you to know something before we decide where we are going and what we are going to do."

"Okay." He says. It seems like he is a little confused.

"Every now and then I get a little lost. My strings all get tangled, my wired all get crossed. Every now and then I am right up on the edge. Dangling my toes out over the ledge. And I just thank God you are here." I say looking down at my hands. I know that this is hard, but I need to continue. And I think that Rick warmly grabbed my hands for reasurment. That gave me the courage to continue.

"Cause when I am a bullet shot out of a gun, when I am a firecracker coming undone. Or when I am a fugitive ready to run, all wide-eyed and crazy, no matter where my reckless soul takes me, you save me." I look up into his eyes and can feel tears starting to roll down my cheeks.

He lets go of my hand and I instantly miss the warmth, but then he reaches up and wipes the tears away and I love the warmth on my face. I think about saying more, but I don't want to overdo it. And just as I was about to say more, he speaks.

"It is hard loving a man that has a gypsy soul. I don't know how you do it. I am not sure how you know, the perfect thing to say to save me from myself. You are the angel that believes in me like nobody else. And I thank God that you do."

I smile and am about to say something again, but he shakes his head and continues.

"Cause when I am the one in front of that bullet, or when I am the casing to the firecracker that is coming undone. Or when I am the victim of your fugitive side, I know where my reckless soul takes me. Because you save me."

"I know that I don't tell you nearly enough, that I couldn't live without your love. But when I am a ship tossed around on the waves, or up on a high wire that is ready to break, and when I have had just about all I can take, you save me." I say looking deep into his eyes. We slowly move into a kiss when we hear a door slam and a woman's voice say, "Richard! Richard!"

But instead on hiding in a closet, we face the scariest thing in our life head on. The parents. But I know that everything will turn out okay, because even though we don't make sense on paper, we don't live our lives on paper. And I will love him the way he loves me. Always.


	31. Chapter 31

**Alone With You**

**Jake Owen**

_Castle and Beckett are dating. But is he in over his head? Takes place after the shooting but before "Always"._

"Kate?"

"Yah?" She says as she leans in even closer to him as they watch a movie.

"I need to talk to you." He said as he leaned forward and paused the movie.

"Umm, okay?"

"I don't see you laugh, and you don't call me back. But you kiss me when you're drunk." He says. "I don't know your friends very well; I don't know where you have been. So why are you the one I want?"

"I don't know what you mean?" She says honestly.

"Please don't chain up your door anymore. Because I can't win this war, your body is a pill I shouldn't take."

"What are you saying?" Kate said starting to move away from him.

"Don't put your lips up to my mouth and tell me you can't stay. Don't slip your hand under my shirt and tell me it's okay. Don't say it doesn't matter cause it's gonna matter to me."

"What are you talking about Castle? You are not making any sense."

"Kate, listen to my words. I am telling you that I can't be alone with you. You have me out on the edge every time you call, and I know it would kill me if I fall because I can't be alone with you."

"Castle are you saying that we are not good for each other?"

"No, no Kate I am not. I am saying that I don't feel as if you care about me as much as I do."

"That is not true."

"How am I supposed to know that? Every time I call, you give me some excuse so you can't see me. But every time you call, I accept your invitation. Why Kate?"

"Because I was afraid."

"Of what? Me?"

"No, heavens no. I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough. I felt that if I said yes to everything you asked, you would think that I was too clingy. I was afraid of being just another crazy fan of yours."

"You could never be just another crazy fan of mine. But even if you were, I have been following the sexiest, most intelligent, and craziest fan I have ever had for over four years. Don't you know what that means?"

"What?"

"If I thought you were just another crazy fan, I would have never asked Montgomery to let me follow you around for a book series."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"No, that's just me." She said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?"

"I lied to you when I was shot. I told you that I didn't remember anything. I did, I still do. I remember you telling me that you love me."

"Ohh, that. Yah I know you lied to me. But I don't care anymore. I stopped caring that you lied to me when you finally kissed me."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think that it was important anymore. Because you are worth every lie, every bad decision, and anything the world throws at us."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Always."


	32. Chapter 32

**Anywhere With You**

**Jake Owen**

_Part of the conversation that Castle and Beckett have when he proposes to her._

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?" Castle asked as her eyes grew two sizes bigger.

"I decided to take the job."

"I don't care. If your dream house was a double-wide trailer sitting back in the holler on a country road, then I would go there. If you don't want to settle down, we can bounce from town to town, and that is fine with me if you wanna just ride the breeze."

"You would drop everything you have here for me to take the job?"

"Yes. I would go anywhere."

"Then yes I will marry you. but now that this is official, I am not going anywhere."

"Why? I thought you wanted the job."

"I do, so much. But I want you more." She says as she pulls him into her for a hug.

"Just know that I would go anywhere, West Virginia baby I don't care. Mexico on a wild hair, have you ever seen California? Just pick a spot on any old map, I travel light and my bags are packed. Just as long I am where you're at. I am going to have a real good view. Because I will go anywhere with you. And I bet there's a two lane, running right through the middle of a wide open dessert to a ghost town. So if you just want to hide out, we could send a postcard back from a mountain top out in Idaho. Maybe get snowed in. I just want to go with you."

"I want to be with you too, that is why I am not taking the job anymore. I don't want you to have to leave Martha and Alexis."

"But I am a writer, I can work from anywhere. Plus Alexis is in college, she isn't even home anymore. And mother, she isn't home half the time anyway. She wouldn't even notice if I wasn't there anymore."

"Castle, for the past five years I have been doing everything for myself. And you have been doing everything you could for me. It is time for things to change. I want to do this for you. Let me do this for you."

"Okay, fine. But if something like this ever happens again, you are taking the job, no matter what." Castle said.

"Okay, now are you going to put the ring on my finger yet?"

"Ohh, right. Sorry." He said as he slipped the ring on her finger.

"I love you."

"I love you too Kate."


	33. Chapter 33

Check Yes Or No

George Straight

_What if it only took a simple note to get Kate and Rick together? What if Montgomery catching them passing the note was all it took to make the lust come out? What if it was a simple question that could solve a lot of problems?_

It felt like they were in third grade, and he was sitting next to popular girl. Like she was wearing a pink dress, a matching bow and her pony tail. And then they kissed undercover and she told him not to tell.

It felt like the next couple days, he was a child chasing her around the playground. Across the monkey bars, to the merry-go-round. And it felt like they were little kids again when she slid him a note while Montgomery was talking. But before he took it, Castle was able to read what she wrote.

_Do you love me? Do you wanna be my friend? And if you do, well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand if you want to. I think this is how love goes. Check yes or no._

And now they were older and she is his wife, still acting like two kids with stars in their eyes. Aint much changed, because he still chases Kate around at crime scenes and up and down the hall and around the bed in their room.

Last night he took her out in a white limousine, twenty years together and she still gets to him. and they cannot believe that it has been that long ago, when they started with just a little note.

All she wanted him to do was check yes or no. And they cannot believe that they avoided another year of dancing around their feelings.

But now they are old and still very much in love and no matter what, that note will always be the one thing keeping them together. Because he loves her and wasn't afraid to take her by the hand. Because that is how love goes.


	34. Chapter 34

Remember When

Alan Jackson

_Kate and Rick are and old couple, sitting around the loft looking at old scrapbooks that Alexis had made them when she was younger. Before she became the youngest Medical Examiner, just beating Lannie by two months._

"Kate? Look at this."

"What?"

"I found the some scrapbooks that Alexis made us when we first started out."

"Aww, I remember those. Let's take a look."

Rick sat down next to her with the books and they started to look through them.

"Remember when I was young and so were you. And time stood still, and love was all we knew. You were the last, and so was i. we made love and then you cried. Remember when?" He asked her.

"Yes, but even though I cried, it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Do you remember when we vowed the vows, and walked the walk? Gave our hearts, made the start. It was hard. We lived and learned, life threw curves, and there was joy, there was hurt. Remember when?"

"It was the best days of my life. Do you remember when old ones died and new were born? And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged. We came together, fell apart and broke each other's heart?"

They continued to look through the books and when they came to a page that had Johanna's first steps he asked, "Remember the sound of little feet, was the music, we danced to week to week. Brought back the love, we found trust and vowed we would never give it up."

"Remember when thirty seemed so old?" She asked.

"Well when you were thirty I was old. But yes. Now looking back, it is just a stepping stone to where we are, where we have been. Said we would do it again. And I still would."

"I would too."

"I remember when we said when we turned gray, when the children grow up and move away, we won't be sad, we will be glad. For all the life we had and we will remember when." He said as he set down the memories and embraced her in a warm loving hug.

"That moment is now."

"Yes, it is. And I am honored that I get to share this moment with you.

"Me too."


	35. Chapter 35

**Home**

**Dierks Bentley**

_What if Beckett wasn't born in the US. What if she was from Russia and one day, she broke. She didn't feel like the place that she had lived almost her whole life in wasn't hers. Can Castle convince her she was wrong?_

He walked into the kitchen one morning and found that there were bags. Suitcases, everywhere. Kate's suitcases.

"Kate? Where are you going?"

"Russia."

"Why?"

"Because this is not my home."

"What are you talking about? This is your home."

"No, Castle I was born in Russia. I can't live a lie anymore. I am not American. I am Russian. I shouldn't be living here." She says as she turns away from him to hide her tears. "Besides, I am damaged. You don't want someone who is damaged. You deserve more."

"Look, you have your scars, and sometimes it starts to worry me, but that is because I don't want you to lose sight of who you are. From the mountains high, to the wave crashed coast. There is a way to find the better days, and yah, it has been a long hard ride and we've got a ways to go. But this is still the place that we all call home."

"I have to go."

"Why? Is it a dream of yours to finally be with me and then leave across the ocean?"

"No."

"Then what are you trying to be brave and tell me that you don't love me. That it was all just an act? And that you are chasing a dream across the sea? Because our forefathers, they were from all over. But yet they signed their names at the bottom of a page. Because they believed. No matter where you go, no matter who you are, this is your home. They died for us. We laid our dead in a sacred ground. Our life has been a long hard ride, and we have a ways to go. But this is still the place that we all call home. And even though our life together has been a long hard ride, I will never loose hope. Because I love you, and I will not let you just leave because you weren't born here. I don't care that you were not born here. This is your home, is was when you got here, it is right now, and I want it to be your home forever."

"Castle…"

"What!?"

"I'm… I'm sorry." She said as tears started to roll down her face.

"Kate… no, I am sorry. I shouldn't have yelled." He said as he pulled her in close and let her cry on his shoulder. "I am sorry."

"I love you Rick,"

"I love you too, K-Bex."

"Seriously?" She said as she punched him in the arm.

"OWWWW!" He said. "Sorry. I love you Katherine Houghton Beckett. Better?"

"Yes."


	36. Chapter 36

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Garth Brooks

_Just Castle talking about his relationship with his mother._

"Sometimes late at night, I lie awake and watch her sleeping. She is lost in her peaceful dreams, so I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark. The thought keeps crossing my mind, that if I never wake up in the morning, would she ever doubt the way I feel about her in my heart?"

"Richard. Seriously? Katherine Beckett knows exactly how you feel her. I don't know why you keep worrying about things like this. And you are not going to die anytime soon. And don't say that you can't promise me that because the woman you love will do everything in her power, everyday to keep you safe while you are helping the police. So don't worry about this. She loves you and you love her."

"Yah, but what if tomorrow never comes? Will she know how much I loved her? did I try in every way, show her every day? That she is my only one and if my time on earth were through and she must face the world without me. Is the love I gave her in the past gonna be enough to last?"

"Richard, you should know the answer to that. That girl knows how much you love her. I mean you wrote books about her. You never let her go. You gave her the space she needed and then when she was ready came forward to you. That is how your relationship works, because that is who you are. I mean you pulled her out of a burning building when her apartment blew up. You pulled her out of the hanger when Montgomery died, and don't forget that you were ready to take the bullet for her when she was shot. I think that Katherine is a big enough woman to understand what that means."

"I have lost loved ones in my life, who never knew how much I loved them. and now I live with the regret that my true feelings for them never were revealed. So I made a promise to myself to say each day how much she means to me and avoid that circumstance where there is no second chance to tell her how I feel. Because if tomorrow never comes will she know how much I loved her?"

"Yes, Rick. I will. And I am glad that you do. Because I love you." Kate said as she entered the apartment in the middle of the conversation.

"But is it enough?" I asked.

"Of course. If you died anytime soon, I would be devastated because you mean everything to me, but I would be able to live on, because I know how much you would want me to. I could live the rest of my life because I know that you would be waiting for me in heaven. But Castle, like your mother said. I will do everything in my power to make sure that never happens. You are not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise."

"I love you Kate."

"I love you too Rick."

"Well, kiddos, I am going up stairs. I think you guys need a moment to yourselves." Martha said as she exited the room.

"I love you so much Kate."

"I know you do. And you need to know that there is nothing to worry about. Neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon. I promise."


	37. Chapter 37

More Than a Memory

Garth Brooks

_Castle and Beckett broke up and this is just a story that tells how he takes the break up. Told in Castle's POV._

I walk around the loft, thinking about my life. My mother is off doing who knows what, Alexis is off at college, and the love of my life is living her life the way she wanted to, without me. And people say that she is only in my head. That it is gonna take time, but I will forget. They say I need to get on with my life, but they don't realize…

They don't realize that I dial six numbers just to hang up the phone, drive across town just to see if she is home, wake up a friend in the dead of the night just to hear him say it's gonna be alright.

I am trying to find things to do not to fall asleep, because I know she will be there in my dreams and that is when I realize that she is more than a memory.

Now I am sitting here taking a match to everything she ever wrote and watched her words go up in smoke. I tore all her pictures off the wall, and it ain't helping at all.

Because when I am talking out loud but nobody is there, and I look like hell but I just don't care. Drinking more than I ever drank and sinking down lower than I ever sank.

And I find myself falling down upon my knees, praying to God, begging him please. That's when she becomes more than a memory to me.

I just can't get on with my life. Not if she isn't a part of it.


	38. Chapter 38

Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You

Kellie Pickler

_Told in Castle's POV. Happens during the fight scene of Knockout. What happens if when Beckett asks Castle to leave, he won't?_

"Is that what we are?" She asks with a scary look on her face.

"Alright, you know what? I don't know what we are. We kiss, and then we never talk about it. we nearly die frozen in each other's arms, but we never talks about it. So, no, I got no clue what we are. I know I don't want to see you throw your life away." I yell in frustration.

Yeah, well, last time I checked, it was my life, not your personal jungle gym. And for the past three years I have been running around with the school's funniest kid, and it is not enough."

"You know what? This isn't about your mother's case anymore. This is about you needing a place to hime. Because you have been chasing this thing so long, you are afraid to find out who you are without it."

"You don't know my, Castle. You think you do, but you don't."

"I know you crawled inside your mother's murder and didn't come out. I know you hide there, the same way you hid in these nowhere relationships with men you don't love. You could be happy, Kate. You deserve to be happy. But you are afraid." I say and as soon as it comes out of my mouth I regret it.

"You know what we are, Castle? We are over. Now get out." She yells as she walks back towards her make shift murder board.

"No."

"What?"

"You heard me, no."

"Why?"

"Because we were best friends, and now we don't even talk. You broke my heart and ripped my world apart. I can't get you out of my head. I still feel you on my lips and in my arms. You left me all alone. You couldn't be more gone from falling apart to fighting mad. From wanting you back to not giving a damn. I have felt it all. I have been to the wall."

"Castle, just go. I don't want you here. This is not your fight."

"Bull. This is my fight now just as much as yours. Didn't you know how much I love you? I gave you everything, almost every part of me. Didn't you feel it when I kissed you, didn't you feel it when I held you? Don't you know how much I love you?" I practically scream.

The look on her face when I said that was complete shock. "Castle… I… " She started but then closed her mouth.

"Kate, look. I am sorry. I should have just left. I didn't mean for you to cry." I said as I started to turn to leave.

"I love you too." She said which made me turn around and face her.

"What?" I ask.

"I love you. I want to be with you. I only want you." She said as she took the last couple of steps towards me and kissed me. She took my face in her hands and latched our lips.

I took her wrists in my hands and said, "What just happened?"

"I am so sorry. I should have never kicked you out. You were right. I hide in these nowhere relationships with men I don't love because I was afraid of being happy." She said as she looked up at me. "But I am ready now. I am ready to be happy."

"What about Josh."

"I don't care about him. All I care about is you."

"You have to do something about him, otherwise I can't do this. I can't let someone cheat on their boyfriend, especially with me."

"Okay, just give me a couple minutes."

"Okay." I said as she went to get her phone and then dialed his number. What surprised me was that she put it on speaker phone, but told me not to speak.

"Hello? Kate?"

"Hey Josh."

"Hey, what is wrong?"

"Nothing. I just I can't do this anymore. I am sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"I am breaking up with you. I am sorry."

"Umm, wow. Okay. Can I just ask you one thing?"

"Yah sure."

"Are you in love with him?"

"Who?"

"Castle?" he asked and we looked up at each other with pure shock shown on our faces.

"How did you know?"

"Because it was obvious every time I went to the precinct that you two had a connection. And I don't know why I am still a little surprised. Ever since I first met him, I knew that one day this would happen."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew that one day you would realize what you had with him, and you would break up with me."

"Then why didn't you break up with me first?"

"Because I cared about you. I really did."

"I am sorry Josh."

"I know. Goodbye Kate."

"Goodbye Josh." She said as she hung up the phone and I embraced her in my arms.

"I guess Lannie was right." She said.

"What do you mean."

"Last year, we talked. She said that I might not be able to see it, but everyone else did. She said it was obvious that we had feelings for each other. I just blew it off."

"It doesn't matter. We are here now."

"Yah, I guess it doesn't. As long as we have each other."

"Stay here with me?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't meet Montgomery at the hanger. Just stay here with me tonight."

"Okay."


	39. Chapter 39

Girls Like Me

Kellie Pickler

"Castle?"

"Yah?"

"Have I changed at all since we met?"

"I wouldn't say that you have changed, I would say that you have grown."

"I gave away my first real kiss in the rain on a Friday night, to the star of the football team. Underneath the stadium lights."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I cried the day he told me he was moving on. That summer I swore I would never love again. And I can still smell the blossoms of those sweet Magnolia trees. I can still hear the Bible stories that my grandma used to read. As the years fly by, I think that I am still the same inside as I used to be. And I guess there ain't no changing girls like me."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, I just wanted you to know. And I remember riding with my grandpa in his pickup truck standing in the front seat. I had my arm around his shoulder. I was his little diamond store queen. We would listen to all those songs playing on the radio, and now I lay in bed and wonder where did all those days go?"

"You know I wonder that sometimes too. I mean, when I was young I was running around at boarding school with all of my friends. But as much as I miss those days, I wouldn't trade a second of my life now for another day back then."

"I love you Rick."

"I know."


	40. Chapter 40

**Do you think about me?**

**Carrie Underwood**

_This happens after she turns down the ring from Castle and moves to D.C. he doesn't follow her. But they think about each other and what could have been all the time._

"Hello? Kate? Is that you?"

"Caslte?"

"Yah, what is wrong?"

"I just need to talk to someone."

"I am here always."

"That first cold September night, you were the blanket holding me tight. You were kissing me and the Earth stood still. You said we don't have to, I said I will. We ran in when the thunder came, and you told me sugar melts in the rain. Don't want to watch our love go to waste so we ran inside before it was too late. I am not even trying, but I can't stop smiling. I just need to know. Do you think about me? Like I think about you?" She admits and lets her guard drop for just a minute.

"You moved on to another town. I wrote you letters until the ink ran out. When the clouds rolled in, I grabbed the keys. And played that song that we used to sing, I met a girl, a lot like you. It is funny how she used to sing it too. But she was always just a little out of key. So much different than you and me. But I am not even trying either, and I can't stop smiling. Because yes, I think about you all the time. I think about you the way you used to think about me." He says as he moves a little closer.

"Sometimes I wonder if you wonder what it could have been like. When you are sitting there drinking coffee, are you thinking about me when it is thundering and raining outside? Cause I am not even trying, but I can't stop smiling and it is sending me flying. But I can't stop smiling. When I think about you. Because I can't stop thinking about what we might have been if I would have just said yes, and stayed. I think about that all the time."

"Well, yes I think about that all the time too, but for now just turn around and start over. My name is Richard Castle, famous mystery writer. What is your name?" He said as she slowly turned around and there he was. Phone to his ear. She slowly hangs up and sets her phone on the counter behind her. The look of shock on her face is what he has come to love. The thought that he could still surprise her. That was enough. That was all he needed to know.

"Rick?"

"I couldn't let you come here without me."

"But I left you. I said no."

"And I don't care. I will follow you to the end of the world if I have to. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine."

"Rick I don't know what to say." She admits.

"Just say that we can have another chance. That is all I want. I screwed up, I just want another chance."

"Okay. But why did you come? You could have just asked on the phone and I would have said yes."

"Because I could not live any longer without seeing your beautiful face."

"I am glad you came."

"Are you now?"

"Yah, and there is something I have to say."

"What?"

"I was wrong. And I am sorry."

"What does that mean for us?'

"It means that I want to come back home. And I would like you to take me."

"Okay just one question." He said as he fished for something in his pocket.

"Anything."

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you do me the honors and marry me?"

"Always."


	41. Chapter 41

**Crazy Dreams**

**Carrie Underwood**

"Kate, did you know that crazy dreams can come true?"

"Yah. How do you think I got here?" She asked as she laced their hands together. She looked back to the murder board. He looked at their hands and wondered if this was really happening. "There are people who are long shots, dark horse runners, hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers, and those wild magnolias just waiting to bloom. There is a little bit of all that inside of me and you. But thank God even crazy dreams come true."

"Yah, I guess that is true." He said still looking at their intertwined hands.

"I stood at the bottom of some walls I thought that I couldn't climb. I felt like Cinderella at the ball just running out of time, so I know how it feels to be afraid. I think that it is all going to slip away, but you just got to hold on."

"I agree with that." He was now just spitting out any words that he could come up with because their conversation had been at least three or four minutes long now and their hands were still connected.

"I feel like I am a free soul, or a firefly chaser. Tree climber, porch swinger, air guitar player, or fearless dancer shaking walls in my bedroom. But in know that there is a lot of wonder left in everyone."

He finally regained his mind and was able to say, "For as long as I have known you, you never let a bad day be enough to go and talk you in to giving up. Sometimes everybody feels like you. I have met some go-getters, some difference makers, small town heroes, and big chance takers. I have met some young hearts with something to prove, but I have never met someone like you."

"I have never met anyone like you either."

"But I am glad that crazy dreams do come true otherwise I would not be here right now either."

"Yah, I am glad about that. I don't know what I would do without a frustrating, crazy, but amazing and talented person I have grown to like."

"Ohh." He said surprised when she squeezed their hands together.

"What?" She asked kind of quietly as Gates walked by towards her office on the phone. Then a couple of seconds later the boys slowly walked by towards their desks with Ryan handing Esposito a twenty dollar bill.

"Can we talk real fast?"

"I thought that was what we were doing." She said.

He got up and started to pull her towards the conference room and took a seat across from her.

"There is something you need to know." He said as she finally took her seat.

"What are you talking about?" She asked a little confused.

"You lied to me, and I know about it."

"How?"

"I was in the observation room while you were interviewing the suspect." He explained.

"I am sorry." She pleaded as she reached for his hands which he let her.

"Look, I don't know whether to be mad or extremely mad. But one thing I know for sure, what you remember has not changed since." He said as he looked into her eyes. He could see pain and sadness, which he assumed was because she lied to him.

"I am so sorry Castle; I just didn't know how to process what happened. I did what I had always done when it came to my feelings. I shut them out and pretended like nothing had ever happened. The truth is… the truth is that every time that we talked about what I wanted; it was so hard for me to not tell you. I just after the hospital I thought that you might not have felt that way."

"I don't think that anything you could ever do would make me love you less." He admitted as he squeezed her hands.

"I am glad."

"Yah, me too."


	42. Chapter 42

**Ever Ever After**

**Carrie Underwood**

"Storybook endings where fairy tales come true. Deep down inside everyone wants to believe that they still do. Because in their secretes heart, it is their favorite part of the story. Come on; just admit that you all want to make it too." Castle said while Beckett looked over the murder board with the picture of a young woman in a princess dress.

"No, Castle. I don't believe in fairy tales."

"Ohh come on. You started a new fashion by wearing your heart on your sleeve. And sometimes you reach what is real just by making believe. You are unafraid, unashamed. There is joy to be claimed in this world. And I am sure that you are glad to be you."

"Castle. Focus, dead girl. This is not one of your stories."

"Ohh come on, please tell me you at least believe in magic."

"No wonder your heart is always flying. Let me guess, your head feels like it is spinning and each happy ending is like a new beginning."

"Yes, just let yourself be enchanted because you just might break through to ever ever after. Forever could even start today. Maybe it is just one wish away. And I have bet you have been dreaming of a true love's kiss."

"No I don't dream about it anymore. I know what it feels like."

"Ohh."

"What's wrong Castle?"

"Nothing."

"You are upset, is it because I know what a true love's kiss feels like and you don't?"

"No, I know what it feels like it. It actually wasn't that long ago that it happened."

"That is funny; mine wasn't too long ago either."

"Okay?"

"Ohh my god Castle!"

"What?"

"Are you stupid."

"What?"

"I am agreeing with everything that you say. Don't you get what I am trying to say?"

"No. I have no idea what you are trying to say!"

"The undercover kiss!"

"What?"

She couldn't believe how insanely stupid he was being so she grabbed his face and brought their lips together.

"I get it now."


	43. Chapter 43

**Some Hearts**

**Carrie Underwood**

_She has never been the kind that you would call lucky. She is always stumbling around in circles, but she must have stumbled into something. Just look at her, is she really alone with him?_

"I wake up feeling like my life is worth living. I just want you to feel the same." Castle said hoping that Beckett would understand.

"I can't recall when I last felt that way." She admitted.

"I guess it is all the love that Alexis is giving. I never knew, never knew it could be like this. I just guess that I am lucky to have someone like her."

"Ohh. Look, I have done some things that I am not proud of."

"Where is this coming from?" He asks completely lost.

"Hearing you talk about how lucky you are to have Alexis, I want that."

"But you do."

"I know."

"What do you mean you know? You just told me that you wanted it. Okay you officially lost me."

"I remember everything."

The words came out of her mouth quickly and at first he didn't think that was actually what she said. But the look on her face was showing him a side of her he had never seen.

"I never thought that someone like you could love me. And you are the last thing that my heart expected. And I never thought that I would ever find someone who makes me feel like this. So I am sorry I put you through all of this. I should have been honest from the beginning." She said as she felt a single tear fall from her eye.

"I honestly don't know what to say."

"Just answer this. Is there any way that my heart is one of those hearts that just get all the right breaks?"

"Yah it does. You have the starts on your side, and your heart has it so easy. Your heart is just one of those hearts that just gets lucky sometimes."

"Rick."

"Kate?"

"I love you."


	44. Chapter 44

**We're Young and Beautiful**

**Carrie Underwood**

_People don't stay young and beautiful for long._

"Rick, while I am young and beautiful can you kiss me like you mean it? Treat me like I am special, cover me with sweetness? Because there will come a time when we are not so young and beautiful. But while I am living free and easy, here without a worry, and dancing in our bare feet. Because when summer's done, we might not be so young and beautiful." She asked as they sat in the lawn chairs looking out to the ocean.

"While you are young and beautiful we will party down on Main Street, wearing next to nothing. We will feel every heart beat, have fun while we are still young and beautiful."

"Good, because life is a crazy ride, and baby you and I, we are keeping our sweet love alive."

"Our love will always be alive as long as we are."


	45. Chapter 45

**I told you so**

_this also happens after Beckett leaves for DC._

Two weeks after she left, he got letter in the mail. Alexis had brought in the mail that day and when she gave it to him, he just wanted to throw it away, he knew that was her. He could tell by the handwriting. The woman he loved, the woman who left him, the woman who broke his heart was now sending him a letter. He just left it on the counter in the kitchen and started to make his way to his office.

"Dad?"

"Yah sweetie?"

"Aren't you going to see what Kate wants you to know?"

"No, there is nothing left for me with her. I don't want to know how great her life is over in D.C. without me."

"I don't think that will be a problem. There are tear marks on the envelope."

He went back to the table and picked up the letter. He slowly opened it and started to read.

_Rick, _

_Suppose I called you up tonight and told you that I love you. And I said that I want to come back home. And supposes I cried and said, "I think I finally learned my lesson. And I am tired of spending all my time alone."_

_And if I got down on one knee like you did, and told you that I was your forever, would you get down on yours too and take my hand. Would we get that old time feeling. Would we laugh and talk for hours like we did when our love first began? Would there be the same connection we had from before everything changed? Would you tell me that you have missed me too? And that you have waited for the day that I returned, and would we live and love forever? And would you tell me that I am your one an donly? Or would you say, "The tables have finally turned."_

_If I told you that I realized that you are all I ever wanted and it is killing me to be so far away. Would you tell me that you love me too and would we cry together? Or would you laugh at me and say, "I told you so, I told you someday you would come crawling back an asking me to take you in. I told you so, but you had to go." Would you say that you found someone new and that I will never break your heart in two again?_

_I am so sorry. I ran, and I was wrong. You gave me an out to the job and our life and I didn't take it. it was a mistake. A mistake I never am going to make again. Because now I know where I belong. I just hope you do too. Instead of taking the option that was right, I took the one that meant losing everything that ever meant anything to me in my life. Can you forgive me?_

_Kate,_

_P.S. I still love you, Always._

Rick was so focused on the letter that he didn't notice that Alexis was now standing behind him with someone else. When he finished reading the letter, he looked up at the ceiling, and a couple tears started rolling down his cheeks. A familiar voice asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yah, I am fine Alexis. It is okay. But you have to read this. And while you do, I need to make a phone call. I will be in my office, when you are done."

"Dad." Alexis said as he looked up at her. Then she nodded to her right and said again, "Dad."

"What?"

"You can't call her, she won't answer."

"Why?"

"OHH MY GODDD! Dad turn around." She said finally giving up at the hints.

He turned around and Kate was standing there. "Hey," she said.

"Kate?"

"I figured that I needed to come back to help you bring your investigative skills back up to par."

"Why? They are fine."

"Because if you would have looked closely at the letter. You would have noticed the date. You would have realized that there is no way I could have written the letter on that date, and mailed it so that it would have arrived today, now. You would have picked up on the hints your daughter was giving you and the long phone calls she has had lately. She wasn't talking to a boy. Castle she was talking to me. I needed to know if you were okay. And if you still loved me. And you would have noticed the last line of the letter. _Always_."

He couldn't get any words out of his mouth and his face showed no emotion. So he just spit something out as fast as he could. "What do you want Beckett?"

"You. I just want you."

"I am just going to go now." Alexis said, before turning and sprinting up the stairs to her room.

Kate crossed the room and took his face in her hands. She kissed him until she pulled back. "I am so sorry Castle, I am so sorry. I am so sorry." She went to kiss him again but he pulled back.

"What happened?"

"Being there, alone. I tried to move on. But every guy that I tried to get back to my place. We would get there, but I could never go through with it. because I finally realized why people say that you never know what you have until you don't. now I do. I know what I had and that is all I want. Nothing else. Just you." She said as she moved in for another kiss but stopped right before his lips to allow him to make his decision. She looked into his eyes for the first time that night and saw exactly what she wanted him to see. Lust and desire. She hoped that he saw that in her. She let go of him and walked into his bedroom.

She waited a couple of minutes and just when she was about ready to give up and leave, he walked in. he picked her up and simply said, "I told you so, but is still love you,"

"Always?'

"Yes. Always."


	46. Chapter 46

Guys like Me

Eric Church

_When Eric Vaughn kissed Beckett Castle did not only get jealous but he started to believe that a woman like her could never love a guy like him. Can Beckett convince Castle that is not true? Told from Castle's POV._

After finding out that Vaughn had kissed her, I could not bear to know that she had to protect him. I mean I wear a greasy ball cap, I like my shirt untucked. I don't like to fight, but I am not scared to bleed. And most guys mess with guys like me. So why does she want to be with someone like me?

Her father was a successful lawyer like her mother. I don't really know mine. She went to college, I sat and wrote books. She must have had her pick of all the trust fund types, but she came back to me and only God knows why. But I need to know why?

"Castle?" She said pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm."

"What are you thinking about?"

"You, me. I was thinking about how you could like a guy like me. I mean guys like me drink to many beers on Friday after work, our best blue jeans have torn knees. We wear boots to church. So rough around the edges, it is hard to believe that girls like you love guys like me.

"Look, there are a lot of guys like you out there. In a lot of little or big towns. And telling all our buddies, we won't ever settle down. We say that is just the way we are, and the way we will always be. So God sends girls like me for guys like you. And I thank God every day that he sends girls like me to guys like you." She says to him and he looks up and asks her a question.

"Then why did you let Vaughn kiss you?"

"I didn't. He tried and I pushed him away. I told him that we were in a serious relationship. But he got me thinking, where we are going. In life I mean."

"I don't understand."

"Where are we going in life?"

"Together?"

"Yah, together."

"I don't know. I mean I know where I would like to go, but I don't know what you want."

"What do you want?"

"Umm, I want a nice small family that I can spend the rest of my life with. I want a little brother for Alexis, someone who I can take care of. I want a woman who will let me take care of her and she will take care of me. I want someone who will love me more than anything in the world. And Kate?" He said as she looked up to him. "I want you. I want to you to be there every minute of my life. I want to be able to call you mine. And I want other girls to look at you and be jealous. And I want guys to look at me and wish that they had a woman as amazing as you are."

"I want that too." She said as she smiled. She took his hands and they walked out of the precinct together. Hand in hand.


	47. Chapter 47

Love Your Love the Most

Eric Church

_Castle and Beckett have a fight about what he loves. She doesn't think that she is important to him anymore. Occurs after he gets back from saving Alexis in Paris._

"Castle!" She yells as soon as he walks in the door.

"Uh oh. What did I do this time?" He jokes.

"I thought you loved me? How could you do this?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I love you."

"If you loved me more than anything you would have not gone to Paris alone. You would have let me come with you." She says very sternly.

"I do love you more than anything, but that was something I had to do on my own. You should know me. You know I love sleeping in on Saturdays, and I love college football games."

"You love not acting your age." She says as she starts to smile.

"Exactly. And I love good barbeque. And yea, I am a fan of Faulkner books. And anything my mother cooks. Small mouthed bass have got me hooked on Sunday afternoons. You know I love Redman tastes. And damn I love my NASCAR race. And any song sung by George Straight is country at its best."

She looks up at him and allows him to wrap his arms around her midsection as he whispers in her ear.

"Yea, I love scuffed up cowboy boots, and broken tom up jeans. My 4-wheel drive and rocky road ice cream. And hell yes I love my daughter. And especially Jack D in my Coke, and I love good cold beer, and mustard on my fries, and I love a good loud Honky Tonk that rocks on Friday nights. And hell yes I love my books, but I need you to know. That honey, I love your love the most."

He turned her around in his arms and looked her straight in the eyes. "And you should know that everything I tell you is the truth."

"I do." She whispers as she lets the tears run down her face. "And that is why I love you. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Never do that again."

"What?"

"Leave without me."

"Never."


	48. Chapter 48

**The Right Kind Of Wrong**

**Leann Rimes**

_A conversation that should have happened at the end of the very first episode._

After the uniforms hold Tisdale, Beckett approaches Castle and clears her throat. He turns around.

"Well, guess this is it." She said.

"It doesn't have to be. We could go to dinner, debrief each other." He says.

"Why, Castle? So I can just be another one of your conquests?"

"Or I could be one of you." He jokes.

"It was nice to meet you, Castle."

"It's too bad, it would have been great." He says before starting to turn around to leave.

She grabs his arm and says, "I know all about your reputation. And now it is bound to be a heartbreak situation. And I am not helpless every time that I am where you are. Because when you walk in, my strength doubles. Say my name and I can fight, and I should go."

"Okay, I understand. It really was nice meeting you though." Castle said before actually leaving.

She walks back to her car and drives herself back to the precinct. On her way she thinks back over the events of that day. She was upset because what she told Castle was not what she wanted to say. She wanted to say, "I need your touch just too damn much. Because loving you isn't really something I should do and I shouldn't want to spend my time with you. I should try to be strong, but you are the right kind of wrong."

Why couldn't she just tell him? Maybe he really was looking for something a little more permanent.

She decided to pay him a visit before heading home, so she left the precinct a little earlier than usual. When she got to his loft, she thought that the place was magnificent.

She made her way up to his apartment and knocked. When he opened the door, he gave her a weird look and said, "Beckett?"

"This might be a mistake, but it is a mistake that I am making. But whatever you are giving, I am happy to be taking. Because no one has ever made me feel the way I feel when I am in your arms." She confesses. And when he doesn't say anything, she continues. "They say that you are something I should do without. They don't know what goes on when they aren't looking. There is no way to explain all the pleasure is worth all the pain. Loving you, now that is not something I should really do, and I should try to be strong, but you are the right kind of wrong."

"Kate, stop."

"Why?"

"You have said enough. You know the minute I saw you I thought that fate had sent me something that was saying that it was time to change my ways. And I think that I really do need to change my ways because I hate being the person that everyone thinks I am." He said before opening the door up more so that she could come inside. She walked past him and he continued. "I just hope that if you should try to run, you cannot seem to. Because every time you run, I am the one you run to. And now that this is really happening, I cannot do without what you do to me, and I don't care if I am in too deep because like you said, we are the right kind of wrong."

She smiled and he could tell that this was the start of a wonderful life.


	49. Chapter 49

**Can't Fight The Moonlight**

**Leanne Rimes**

They had gone out three times so far, and under a lover's sky, she is gonna be with him. And no one is going to be aroundso if she thinks that she won't fall, she just has to wait until the sun goes down. Because underneath the starlight, there is a magical feeling so right. It will steal their hearts tonight.

He says, "You can try to resist and try to hide from my kiss, but you know that you cannot fight the moonlight. Because deep in the dark, you will surrender your heart because you cannot fight the moonlight. It will get to your heart."

"I know that there is no escape from love. Once a gentle breeze, it will weave its spell upon my heart. No matter what I think, it won't be too long until I am in your arms. We will be lost in the rhythm so right."

"And that is why I love you."

"Why? Because I cannot live without you?" She asks.

"No, because you are able to admit to yourself that you can't."

"Ohh, well I love you too."


	50. Chapter 50

**Commitment**

**Leanne Rimes**

_Castle's reason to why he proposed._

I am looking for a love that is forever. Someone who can capture my soul in a heartbeat, and stay for all time. What I am praying for is a match made in heaven. I want someone who I can worship her body, and still put her heart on the line.

I want a woman who will stand by me, and walk through the fire. Someone who will be my flame in the night. And I won't settle for less than what I deserve, because I want a friend and a lover who will love me for the rest of my life.

I have had promises broken, and three words left unspoken. They just left me aching for more. But I think that I have found temptation and I won't be impatient. Because she is the one thing worth waiting for.

What I want is commitment. And everything that goes with it. I need honor and love in my life from somebody who is playing for keeps. I need someone who will go the distance. I need somebody with staying power and someone who will make me go weak in the knees.

And I have found just the person. Katherine Houghton Beckett


	51. Chapter 51

_She's Everything  
_

_Brad Paisley_

_One shot from after the bombing case where Castle finds out that she knew this whole time. She knew that he confessed his love for her while she was dying._

"Castle?"

"Yah?"

"Do you love me?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Do you love me?"

"Kate, don't do this now."

"Do what? I need to know. I need to know if you still love me." Kate begged.

"Do you know what you are to me?" Castle asked back.

"No."

"You are a yellow pair of running shoes. A holey pair of jeans. You look great in cheap sunglasses, you look great in anything. You are 'I want a piece of chocolate, take me to a movie'. You cannot find a thing to wear. Now and then you are moody." Castle started to say as they continued to walk down the street. And as soon as Castle said that she got moody, she countered with a punch to the arm.

"I do not." She claimed.

"Yes you do. Whenever you don't have a suspect you become like super bitch or something. Please don't punch me again." He said before continuing his rant. "You are a Saturn with a sunroof, with your brown hair a-blowing. You are a soft place to land, and a good feeling knowing. You are a warm conversation, that I wouldn't miss for nothing."

"Really?"

"Yah and you know what I love most about you? You are a fighter when you are mad, but a lover when you are loving. You are everything I need. When I talk about you I go on and on and on, because you are everything to me."

"There is something I need to confess."

"I already know."

"You know what?"

"That you heard me. And that you remember everything from that day."

"How?"

"I heard you in interrogation with Bobby. How could you. I just don't get it. you do this to me, yet I still love you."

"But do you know what you mean to me?"

"Let me guess, an immature, egotistical… self-centered jackass sometimes?" He guesses.

"Yes, but there is more, so much more." She says as she stops them and turns to face him. "You are a Saturday out on the town and a church boy on Sunday. You have a cross around your neck and a cuss word because it is Monday. You are a bubble bath and candles. You are one glass of my favorite wine, and feeling kinda tipsy. You are the giver I wish I could be. And the stealer of the covers. You are a picture in my wallet, and my unborn child's father. You are the hand that I am holding, when I am on my knees and praying for a miracle in my mother's case. You are the answer to my prayer and the song that I am playing…"

"You are the voice I love to hear, and someday when I am ninety, you are that wooden rocking chair that I want rocking right beside me, every day that passes, I only love you more. Yah you are the one. That I would lie down my own life for?" Castle finishes for her.

"Yes." She says.

"So to answer your question. Yes. I still love you."

"Good. Cause this would have been awkward if you didn't."

"How?"

"Because I love you."

"Always."


	52. Chapter 52

**The world**

_This is right after the undercover kiss they shared. Josh gets wind of it and cheats on Beckett because he feels betrayed. So Beckett breaks up with him and feel empty. She feels as if no one loves her and she means nothing to the world._

They were sitting in her unmarked police car waiting for a suspect to arrive at his house when she finally turned to Castle and said, "Castle, I can't do this anymore. I am sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean nothing to anyone anymore."

"That is not true."

"First, Will leaves me only to come back two years later and thinks that I still love him and that I waited for him. And then Demming, I broke up with him because I wanted to go with you to the Hamptons, but then you showed up with Gina. I spent hours that night in the bathroom crying. I felt like nothing. And then Josh. He cheated on me. He cheated on me Castle. With some slutty nurse because you kissed me to save the boys. No one cares about me anymore. I mean nothing to the world anymore." Kate said as she broke out in tears.

"Kate that is not true. You mean the world to people." He said.

"Don't lie to me Castle. I don't need that right now."

"I am not lying, maybe to the teller down at the bank, you are just another checking. To the plumber that came today, you are just another house. To the airport ticket counter you are just another fare. At the beauty shop at the mall, well you are just another head of hair. But that is alright, that is okay. If you don't feel important. Then all I have to say is to the world, you may be just another girl, but to me, you are the world."

"Stop Castle. Stop lying to me and yourself. You don't want this. I am just some dead beat cop you write about. I mean nothing to you."

"No, look you may be just another tip to the waiter at the restaurant, another dip to the guy at the ice cream shop. And when you can't get reservations because you don't have the clout, or you didn't get an invitation. Because somebody left you out. But that is alright, that is okay. When you don't feel important, all I have to say is you are the world to me. You mean everything."

"I can't be. I am just one of a million."

"No you are one in a million to me."

"I don't matter to anyone Castle. I don't."

"Look into my eyes and tell me that you can't see, that you are everything to me." He says with a serious attitude and stares into her eyes.

"I see you. I see you Castle. That is all I see."

"Then tell me if this feels like you don't mean anything to anyone." He said as he closed his eyes and the distance between their lips and sparks flew instantly. It felt like nothing they had ever felt before. It was not just fireworks, it was magic.

"Tell me you don't feel anything." He said once again.

"I can't." She said looking down into her lap.

"I know. And you should know that you mean everything to me."

"What does this mean?"

"This means that I love you. So much more that you can imagine."

"Always?" She asks.

"Always." And he responds.


	53. Chapter 53

**I Run To You**

**Lady Antebellum**

_Castle finally decides to ask Beckett why she runs from everything. Happens during their fight at the end of season three._

"Kate, what about the people who care about you?" He practically yells.

"What about you Rick, huh?" She yells back.

"Of course I care about you, you are my partner."

"Is that what we are?"

"No, I have no idea what we are. We kiss, but we never talk about it. We almost die frozen in each other's arms, but we never talk about it. So I have no idea what we are." He confesses. "But I do know that you run. Because you don't want to find out what you could be without your mother's case."

"Fine, do you want the truth?"

"That would be nice for once."

"I run. Okay I run. From hate, from prejudice, and pessimists. But I run too late, I thought I ran my life. But now I think it runs me. Because I run from my past, and I run to fast. But sometimes it seems that I run too slow it seems, because when lies become the truth I want to run to you." She blurts out in frustration.

"Then why don't you? Do you really think that I have been following you around for the past three years for my health?"

"Because we run on fumes. Your life and mine, it is like the sands of time. Slipping right on through, but the love I need is the only truth I want."

"What are you trying to say?" Castle asks, which makes Beckett even madder.

"This world keeps spinning faster and into a new disaster. I want to run to you. And when it all starts coming undone, you are the only one that I want to run to." She says.

He just stands there looking at her in shock.

"Oh My God Castle!"

"What?" He asks.

"Do you not understand at all?"

"With you, I never know what to say or do. Because I just want you to be happy, but I feel that whatever I do or say will just make you madder."

"That wasn't what I asked." She said.

"Then what do you mean? I have no idea what you mean half the time. And it makes me so frustrated." He admits.

"I was trying to tell you that I love you." She says before she can take it back.

"What?"

"Seriously Castle?" She says now very irritated.

"No, I heard you. It is just; I don't know what to say."

"No, look this was a mistake. You should go. Now." She says as she starts towards the door.

"No, Kate. I am sorry. Just wait." He says causing her to turn around.

"What do you want Castle? Because I think I was pretty clear about what I wanted." She said extremely harshly.

"I want you. I always have." He said. And before he could even claim his love for her, she pushed him up against her counter and was locking her lips with his. He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her in tightly.

But she pulled back a little and grabbed his hand, at first he was a little confused until he saw that she was leading him towards the bedroom. And that night, Beckett never went to the hanger.


	54. Chapter 54

**Need You Now**

**Lady Antebellum**

There were picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor. He was reaching for the phone because he couldn't fight it anymore. He sits there wondering if he ever crossed her mind. Because for him it happened all the time.

Another shot of whiskey, and she can't stop looking at the door. She wished that he would come sweeping in the way he did and wondered if she ever crossed his mind. Because for her it happened all the time.

She finally broke down and called him.

"Beckett? Where is the body?"

"There is no body."

"Then what is wrong? It is a quarter after one."

"I am all alone and I need you now."

"What?"

"I need you Castle."

"Umm," He says but he honestly couldn't find anything to say.

"Look, I told myself that I wouldn't call, but I have lost all control. I just need you, and I don't know how I can do without."

"I will be right there." He said before hanging up the phone and rushing out of the loft.

Ten minutes later he knocked on her door and when she opened it up, he expected her to be hurt. But when she opened the door, she flung her arms around him and pulled him into the apartment.

"Kate what is wrong?"

"I would rather hurt than feel nothing at all."

"Are you hurt?"

"Yah, my heart. I need you." She said before looking up at him, his eyes were looking back down at her with love.

She placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled him towards her lips. It took him a short while to react back. And when he did, he placed his right hand on her hip and his left on her face. His thumb stroked her cheek and his palm was just on the edge of her chin. He wrapped his fingers around the back of her ear and pulled her the rest of the way to his mouth. They kissed until it became too much. And when she pulled back, he looked into her eyes and saw the love she had for him.

"I love you so much Kate."

"I love you too."


	55. Chapter 55

**I Run To You**

**Lady Antebellum**

_Castle finally decides to ask Beckett why she runs from everything. Happens during their fight at the end of season three._

"Kate, what about the people who care about you?" He practically yells.

"What about you Rick, huh?" She yells back.

"Of course I care about you, you are my partner."

"Is that what we are?"

"No, I have no idea what we are. We kiss, but we never talk about it. We almost die frozen in each other's arms, but we never talk about it. So I have no idea what we are." He confesses. "But I do know that you run. Because you don't want to find out what you could be without your mother's case."

"Fine, do you want the truth?"

"That would be nice for once."

"I run. Okay I run. From hate, from prejudice, and pessimists. But I run too late, I thought I ran my life. But now I think it runs me. Because I run from my past, and I run to fast. But sometimes it seems that I run too slow it seems, because when lies become the truth I want to run to you." She blurts out in frustration.

"Then why don't you? Do you really think that I have been following you around for the past three years for my health?"

"Because we run on fumes. Your life and mine, it is like the sands of time. Slipping right on through, but the love I need is the only truth I want."

"What are you trying to say?" Castle asks, which makes Beckett even madder.

"This world keeps spinning faster and into a new disaster. I want to run to you. And when it all starts coming undone, you are the only one that I want to run to." She says.

He just stands there looking at her in shock.

"Oh My God Castle!"

"What?" He asks.

"Do you not understand at all?"

"With you, I never know what to say or do. Because I just want you to be happy, but I feel that whatever I do or say will just make you madder."

"That wasn't what I asked." She said.

"Then what do you mean? I have no idea what you mean half the time. And it makes me so frustrated." He admits.

"I was trying to tell you that I love you." She says before she can take it back.

"What?"

"Seriously Castle?" She says now very irritated.

"No, I heard you. It is just; I don't know what to say."

"No, look this was a mistake. You should go. Now." She says as she starts towards the door.

"No, Kate. I am sorry. Just wait." He says causing her to turn around.

"What do you want Castle? Because I think I was pretty clear about what I wanted." She said extremely harshly.

"I want you. I always have." He said. And before he could even claim his love for her, she pushed him up against her counter and was locking her lips with his. He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her in tightly.

But she pulled back a little and grabbed his hand, at first he was a little confused until he saw that she was leading him towards the bedroom. And that night, Beckett never went to the hanger.


	56. Chapter 56

**Need You Now**

**Lady Antebellum**

There were picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor. He was reaching for the phone because he couldn't fight it anymore. He sits there wondering if he ever crossed her mind. Because for him it happened all the time.

Another shot of whiskey, and she can't stop looking at the door. She wished that he would come sweeping in the way he did and wondered if she ever crossed his mind. Because for her it happened all the time.

She finally broke down and called him.

"Beckett? Where is the body?"

"There is no body."

"Then what is wrong? It is a quarter after one."

"I am all alone and I need you now."

"What?"

"I need you Castle."

"Umm," He says but he honestly couldn't find anything to say.

"Look, I told myself that I wouldn't call, but I have lost all control. I just need you, and I don't know how I can do without."

"I will be right there." He said before hanging up the phone and rushing out of the loft.

Ten minutes later he knocked on her door and when she opened it up, he expected her to be hurt. But when she opened the door, she flung her arms around him and pulled him into the apartment.

"Kate what is wrong?"

"I would rather hurt than feel nothing at all."

"Are you hurt?"

"Yah, my heart. I need you." She said before looking up at him, his eyes were looking back down at her with love.

She placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled him towards her lips. It took him a short while to react back. And when he did, he placed his right hand on her hip and his left on her face. His thumb stroked her cheek and his palm was just on the edge of her chin. He wrapped his fingers around the back of her ear and pulled her the rest of the way to his mouth. They kissed until it became too much. And when she pulled back, he looked into her eyes and saw the love she had for him.

"I love you so much Kate."

"I love you too."


End file.
